Athletics: Tough battle looming for 'fastest man on no legs'

Oscar Pistorius at Christchurch's QE2 Park. Photo / John McCombe

Oscar Pistorius hasn't given up his dream of challenging able-bodied athletes at the Olympics ... but for now that can wait.

The 24-year-old South African, who was born with congenital absence of fibula in both legs and was only 11 months old when his legs were amputated halfway between his knees and ankles, came up just short of the qualifying time for the 2008 Olympics.

He went on to win the Paralympic gold medals in the 100, 200 and 400 metres (T44) sprints, and this week is focused on beating his American rival Jerome Singleton.

The man known as the Blade Runner believes the American sprinter could steal his 100m T44 title from him in Christchurch.

At the Beijing Paralympic Games, Pistorious staged a remarkable comeback to beat Singleton on the line by 0.03s to claim 100m gold.

"At the BT Paralympic World Cup we crossed the line in the same splits as we did in Beijing," said Pistorious, one of the poster boys for Paralympic sport.

"The time was slower but the splits were the same so it's going to be quite scary running against him in Christchurch.

"I'm definitely expecting it to be my hardest race."

Pistorius, who holds the 100m (T44) in 10.91s and 200m (T44) in 21.58s, knows he will have to be at his best to retain his 100m world crown in Christchurch.

"The fastest man with no legs" has analysed his performance from Beijing and knows he has to be better.

"It was not a good start and my race wasn't run technically properly.

"I was last after 30 metres and my reaction speed was bad.

"There were a lot of amateur faults I made in that race, I was very lucky to come away with a win."

Despite the growing rivalry between the two athletes, Pistorius has nothing but respect for the 24-year-old American.

"He's very down to earth, humble and hard working - everything you'd like in a competitor.

"He's not a big talker which I also like, his talent talks on the track.

"He's a phenomenal athlete and a great guy."

Pistorious only took up athletics in 2004 as part of a rehabilitation programme for a serious knee injury sustained while playing school rugby.

In his first year of running, Pistorius made an immediate impact, winning 200m gold at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games and bronze in the 100m.

Two years later at the 2006 IPC Athletics World Championships in Assen, the Netherlands, he completed a clean sweep, winning gold in the 100m, 200m and 400m.

He repeated the feat at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.

After narrowly beating Singleton to gold in the 100m he set a Paralympic record in the 200m.

In his strongest event, the 400m, he set a new world record.

This week he will compete in the 100m, 200m and 400m and it's all a long way from where it began for Pistorious who only began his career in athletics by training for rugby.

"After entering a few competitions I saw that my times weren't that bad. I had great guidance from my coach ...

"I wasn't really involved in Paralympic sport before that so I really went out on a limb on what he advised me to do.

"I decided to postpone rugby for a year and got the opportunity to go to Athens for the Paralympic Games and kind of fell in love with the sport. From there I never really decided to turn back or change anything."

If he could, Pistorious would change the IAAF regulations which prevent him competing against able-bodied athletes because of unfair advantage. But for now he has his work cut out to keep dominating Paralympic sprinting.