South African duo hit Olympic glitch

ATHLETICS: Oscar Pistorius and Caster Semenya were frustrated in their efforts to run a crucial second qualifying time for the London Olympics.

Both athletes have achieved the mark once and Semenya needs to run inside a time of one minute 59.90 seconds in the women’s 800 metres between now and the Games to qualify.

Pistorius, who competes on prosthetic legs, reached the final of the 400m at the South African Championships but remained well short of his target, under 45.30 seconds. He clocked 48.24sec to finish second behind Ranti Dekgate in his opening heat, and followed that up with 47.91sec to finish fourth in his semi-final.

Semenya did not race as withdrawals meant her heat was cancelled and she automatically qualified for today’s final.