Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius fell short of the 400m qualifying time for the Olympics on Wednesday, though his lifetime best run could yet get him to Beijing in the relay.
The 21-year-old South African shrugged off the pre-race distraction of threatening legal action against the IAAF to finish third in his heat in 46.25 seconds.
Though still outside the Olympic individual qualifying standard of 45.55 seconds, it was 11 hundredths faster than his previous best.
PHOTO: AP
“I am so excited and so happy. I really enjoyed tonight,” Pistorius said. “It was always going to be a very difficult task to achieve the individual time but there is still the hope of the relay.”
The South Africa selectors will choose their team for the Aug. 8 to Aug. 24 Beijing Games by the weekend and can invite him to join the six-man roster for the 4x400m relay.
To do so would defy a public request from the IAAF not to pick Pistorius, who runs using prosthetic limbs, because it believes he is a threat to his own and other athletes’ safety.
“I think it is the IAAF’s last desperate attempt to try to get me not to qualify,” Pistorius said.
His aspiration of attempting to qualify was made possible in May when he won an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to overturn an IAAF ban that prevented him competing against able-bodied runners.
On Wednesday the New York City legal firm of Dewey and Leboeuf, which steered that case, threatened a second legal action against the IAAF.
“We believe the IAAF is obligated to immediately advise the South African Federation and Olympic Committee that it has no objection to Mr. Pistorius competing in the 4x400m relay at the Beijing Games,” it said in a statement.
It also demanded that the Monaco-based IAAF withdraw a further comment that it was concerned it did not have the resources to check on the legality of Pistorius’ Cheetah blade limbs every time he appeared at a meet. The CAS ruling cleared him to run only when using the type of blade that was subjected to laboratory testing to prove it gave no competitive advantage.
“That kind of implies that I would cheat at events,” Pistorius said. “It is very sad that they [the IAAF] think that. It is not my problem any more. I have proved all I need to prove. My job is to be on the track and enjoy what I do. There is nothing more satisfying to me than running times like I did tonight.”
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