Some call him “the blade runner.” Others say he’s “the fastest man on no legs.” Oscar Pistorius doesn’t mind either nickname. Just don’t call him disabled.
Now he has a new title: Olympian.
“Today is truly one of the proudest days of my life,” said the double-amputee runner.
If that sounds like a contradiction, that also suits Pistorius just fine. The South African athlete who was born without bones in his lower legs has spent his entire life beating the odds, and he just beat the biggest one of all.
Pistorius, 25, will be running in London later this month in both the individual 400 and the 4×400 relay — the first amputee track athlete to compete at any games.
While his selection for the relay team was likely, it was only a last-minute turnaround by South African sports officials yesterday that gave Pistorius the chance to run in his favorite event at the Olympics.
South Africa’s Olympic committee and national track federation suddenly decided to clear Pistorius for the 400 at the London Games on his carbon fiber blades despite his just missing out on the country’s strict qualifying criteria.
Until now, Pistorius’ toughest opponents were track officials who said his J-shaped, energy storing, carbon-fiber prostheses gave him an unfair advantage over runners with normal legs.
They also said Pistorius had a leg up because he was immune to shin splints and other below-the-knee injuries that plague other runners.
But Pistorius knew that the race to silence the critics was more of a marathon than a sprint, and he kept moving forward until he was able to finally break the tape when a court cleared him to compete against able-bodied runners in 2008.
“I’m so pleased years of hard work, determination and sacrifice have all come together,” Pistorius said. “I am aiming to race well, work well through the rounds, post good times, and maybe even a personal-best time, on the biggest stage of them all.”
South Africa’s national Olympic Committee said it had high hopes for Pistorius.
“As I have said many times before, we are not taking passengers to London,” South African Olympic Committee President Gideon Sam said.
Pistorius had both legs amputated below the knee a month before his first birthday.