Fastest thing on no legs in hot pursuit of his Olympic dream

Published on Sunday 13 May 2007 01:13

OSCAR Pistorius knows a thing or two about adversity. Due to a congenital condition, he was born without fibulas, and by his first birthday both legs had been amputated below the knee. But the self-styled "fastest thing on no legs" knows that the biggest mountain must still be climbed, figuratively: he must persuade the powers that be to give him his chance at making Olympic history.

At this afternoon's Visa Paralympic World Cup in Manchester, the South African sprinter is tipped to retain his 100-metre, 200m and 400m titles - events in which he holds the world records. His personal best over one lap would have beaten Eric Liddell to gold in the 400m final at the 1924 Paris Olympics. He would also top last year's Scottish senior rankings in all three of his events.

So it is no surprise that Pistorius is looking towards Beijing - but it is the Olympics, not the Paralympics one month later, that he is targeting. However, the International Amateur Athletics Association - who are clearly keen on portraying themselves as curmudgeonly and intransigent sporting administrators in the movie that Tom Hanks is looking to make of Pistorius's life - are not amused. "It's a little unfair on those with legs," they say, without a suggestion of irony.

Pistorius can but hope that they relent and decree that his "feet" are merely the equivalent of running shoes, rather than illicit performance enhancers. "We're working things out with the IAAF at the moment after the International Olympic Committee said they were fine for me to compete," said Pistorius. "Unfortunately, the IAAF have a problem with prosthetic limbs. We've put the time into the research to prove them wrong, and it's really frustrating for me that they haven't made a ruling yet.

"If they look at the facts and figures, I'm sure they will rectify their decision and give me the chance, but there is a fear of change there.

"I've got all sorts of bio-kinetics people and other experts behind me, and we aren't going to let it drop. The people who have questioned the advantage I get are just ignorant, and don't look at the scientific facts we've produced."

Pistorius, who has yet to make an Olympic qualification time, is not ruling out taking his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. After a lifetime of telling people not to think of him as disabled, he must convince the doubters that he is an athlete, rather than an engineering marvel.

"If the IAAF continues to deny me the chance to compete, then I'm prepared to take it as far as I need. If it doesn't go my way for 2008, then 2012 in London would be a fantastic place to make my Olympic debut. I will only be 25, and reaching my peak as a sprinter."

Pistorius's blades might be called Cheetahs, but he insists that he is anything but. Some believe, though, that they give him an extra-long stride, and some rivals at the Paralympics even claimed that being a double amputee gave him an advantage.

Trevor Brauckmann, Pistorius's prosthetics expert, is incensed: "If Oscar wins a race, he is accused of having an unfair advantage, but if he runs against able-bodied athletes and loses, people ask what he is trying to prove. Whatever happens, he is on hiding to nothing. Too much is said about the advantages, and not enough about the disadvantages that Oscar has overcome.

"I really believe that the world is not ready to face the fact that a disabled athlete can be competitive with able- bodied athletes."

Against Paralympic peers, Pistorius is certainly peerless, a trend that is likely to continue in Manchester:

"If the weather is good, I'm in the form to lower my 200m world record. I want to be the first Paralympian to go under 21.5 seconds, and I'm in that kind of shape.

"The best way to keep my critics quiet is to prove them wrong with the times I set."

Visa Paralympic World Cup: live coverage today on BBC 2, 3.45pm.