Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius will compete in the Olympics for South Africa.
6:49 pm - 07/04/2012
'Blade runner' Pistorius handed dream double Olympic ticket
(CNN) -- Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius will compete at the Olympic Games after he was named in both the individual 400m and the South Africa 4x400m relay squad for London 2012.
The four-time Paralympic Games gold medalist won a silver medal as part of South Africa's 4x400m relay at the World Championships in Daegu last year, although he was left out of the line-up for the final.
He also looked set to be excluded from the individual event in London after failing to run the Olympic 'A' standard qualification mark twice in international competition.
But the South African selectors relaxed their qualification rules Wednesday and named him in both events, much to his delight.
"Today is truly one of the proudest days of my life. To have been selected to represent Team South Africa at the London 2012 Olympic Games in the individual 400m and the 4x400m relay is a real honor and I am so pleased that years of hard work, determination and sacrifice have all come together," he told his official website.
"I have a phenomenal team behind me who have helped get me here and will now put everything we can into the final few weeks of preparations before the Olympic Games where I am aiming to race well, post good times and maybe even a personal best time on the biggest stage of them all."
Pistorius, whose legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old due to a bone defect, runs on special carbon fiber blades from which his nickname "The Blade Runner" derives.
He will become the first Paralympian to compete in track and field at the able bodied Olympics.
(Source)
OP_I hope I did this right. Been a long time since I've used html and think I got the right tags?. I found this article interesting. I hope he is well received by other athletes once at the games. He still has to work and train like the rest of them. I wish though that this had been possible for Aimee Mullins back in 1996. I think I may have a favorite.
(CNN) -- Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius will compete at the Olympic Games after he was named in both the individual 400m and the South Africa 4x400m relay squad for London 2012.
The four-time Paralympic Games gold medalist won a silver medal as part of South Africa's 4x400m relay at the World Championships in Daegu last year, although he was left out of the line-up for the final.
He also looked set to be excluded from the individual event in London after failing to run the Olympic 'A' standard qualification mark twice in international competition.
But the South African selectors relaxed their qualification rules Wednesday and named him in both events, much to his delight.
"Today is truly one of the proudest days of my life. To have been selected to represent Team South Africa at the London 2012 Olympic Games in the individual 400m and the 4x400m relay is a real honor and I am so pleased that years of hard work, determination and sacrifice have all come together," he told his official website.
"I have a phenomenal team behind me who have helped get me here and will now put everything we can into the final few weeks of preparations before the Olympic Games where I am aiming to race well, post good times and maybe even a personal best time on the biggest stage of them all."
Pistorius, whose legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old due to a bone defect, runs on special carbon fiber blades from which his nickname "The Blade Runner" derives.
He will become the first Paralympian to compete in track and field at the able bodied Olympics.
(Source)
OP_I hope I did this right. Been a long time since I've used html and think I got the right tags?. I found this article interesting. I hope he is well received by other athletes once at the games. He still has to work and train like the rest of them. I wish though that this had been possible for Aimee Mullins back in 1996. I think I may have a favorite.
I could have sworn that I read in a previous article about the blades are that they make him a bit faster than average.
But I don't think the IOC is worried about Pistorius medaling. His personal best for the 400 might get him past a preliminary round, but he's still almost 2 seconds behind the world record, Olympic record and gold medal time from Beijing.
Edited at 2012-07-05 05:07 pm (UTC)
God, I feel so unaccomplished. LOL.