With his final attempt, South African double amputee Oscar Pistorius qualified for next month’s world championships by smashing his 400m personal best in Lignano, Italy, on Tuesday.
Pistorius, known as the “Blade Runner” because he runs with carbon fiber prosthetic running blades, clocked 45.07 seconds to record a time inside both the world championships and next year’s London Olympics qualifying mark.
“It was just a dream race,” Pistorius, 24, said in a late-night telephone conversation from Lignano. “I just have not been able to sleep. I must have 300 messages congratulating me. I am sure tomorrow when I wake up it [the accomplishment] is going to hit me. It is really humbling to know I have gotten so much support from everyone.”
The performance enabled Pistorius to become the first amputee sprinter to qualify for the world championships.
His achievement was all the more dramatic as his qualifying time was recorded on the final day of eligibility for the South African team, he said.
“‘See you in Daegu’ sounds so wonderful,” said Pistorius, who had both lower legs amputated when he was 11 months old.
A multiple Paralympic gold medalist, the South African had sought for years to compete in the world championships and Olympics.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport gave him a chance in 2008 when it ruled in his favor after a long legal battle with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) over the use of his running blades, which the IAAF said gave him an unfair advantage, but after the decision, he failed to record a time inside the Olympic qualifying mark and missed the Beijing Games.
On Tuesday, those previous disappointments were forgotten when he booked his place at the worlds and London Olympics with one final composed surge.
“With 180 meters out, I just decided to set out for the end and I really ran a very comfortable last 100 meters,” Pistorius said.
“It is kind of strange because I broke my personal best by half a second, which is ridiculous,” he said with a satisfying chuckle.
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