HarbingeR Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 I'm so thrilled today. Oscar Pistorius has finally, 3 years after the Court of Arbitration ruled that he's allowed to compete against Able-Bodied athletes, qualified for the World Championship and 2012 Olympics. The Double Amputee Sprinter with Carbon Fiber Legs Will Race in the World ChampionshipsOscar Pistorius has two carbon fiber blades for legs. Despite that, he can run 400 meters in 45.07 seconds. And South Africa, his home country, is sending him to the World Championships to compete against a field of normal-legged runners.The 24-year-old Pistorius has been the subject of debate and discussion since he began using his Cheetah Flex-Foot prostheses. Initially, he had been banned from competing in regular competition because German scientists had concluded he had a 30% efficiency advantage over sprinters with actual legs. Although the ruling was overturned shortly before the Beijing Olympics, ESPN says that he failed to qualify for the 2008 Olympics and the 2009 World Championships.After setting his personal best earlier this year in Rome, he's finally fast enough to run in the World Championships and will be the only 400 meter sprinter representing South Africa. Pistorius says he'll be pleased to make it out of his preliminary heats. [ESPN]GO MAKE SOUTH AFRICA PROUD... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrislo27 Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Yay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingkong15 Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Go on mate, show'em what you can do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarbingeR Posted August 9, 2011 Author Share Posted August 9, 2011 Just so everyone knows, he will go down in history as the FIRST ever Paralympian to compete at the World Championships as well as at the 2012 Olympics against able-bodied athletes.Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius (born 22 November 1986) is a South African sprint runner. Known as the 'Blade Runner' and 'the fastest man on no legs', Pistorius, who has a double amputation, is the world record holder in the 100, 200 and 400 metresIn May 2008, Pistorius made the '2008 TIME 100' – Time magazine's annual list of the world's most influential people – appearing third in the 'Heroes & Pioneers' section. Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind person to climb Mount Everest, wrote in an essay that Pistorius was 'on the cusp of a paradigm shift in which disability becomes ability, disadvantage becomes advantage. Yet we mustn't lose sight of what makes an athlete great. It's too easy to credit Pistorius' success to technology. Through birth or circumstance, some are given certain gifts, but it's what one does with those gifts, the hours devoted to training, the desire to be the best, that is at the true heart of a champion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldr Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Wonderful news . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pitvrug Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Fastest man on no legs FTW!!!! 8) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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