South Africa - Tuesday, April 24, 2007 10:48 - 1 Comment

"I’m not disabled, I just don’t have any legs."

What a great story - Oscar Pistorius runs the 200m in under 22 seconds - that’s bliksem vinnig. He had his legs amputated at age 1 after he was born without fibula’s. He candidly states that it’s never stopped him from playing the sports he wanted to play. They include rugby, tennis and water-polo. (check this video interview with Oscar)

Dan from feverpitcher explains better than I:

The Oscar Pistorius story is one most South Africans are pretty familiar with - both legs amputated as a kid, prosthetic ‘blades’ fitted to enable him to run, and now one of the quicket human beings on the planet. Pistorius consistently runs under 22 seconds in the 200 metres, and quite simply blows all his competition out the water at any Paralympic event.

Which would suggest he’s ready for a crack at the able-bodied sprinting fraternity… but that won’t happen. The IOC have decided that his blades represent an external supporting device (or something to that effect), and so Pistorius’s hopes of taking on a Greene or a Powell look to be on ice. But he is getting a little international attention, which won’t hurt his cause - The Times have a video exclusive of the South African star in action. A global profile, and perhaps Oscar Pistorius’s Olympic hopes aren’t completely over.