Oscar Pistorius, the ‘Blade Runner’ to clash against world’s best line-up in Daegu: Athletics news
Contesting the world’s fastest field without having legs is no small a task, however, Oscar Pistorius, the South African athlete who is known as the ‘Blade Runner’, is all bent on accomplishing this task for the first time in the history of World Championships
in athletics.
The interesting fact is that Pistorius has already achieved an ‘A’ standard, which is a prerequisite to appear on the track in Daegu and after achieving this status, he is now a formal part of the South African stringent to representing the country at the
global athletics event.
On top of it, due to the sustained performance he has been marking, he was the only runner who had been nominated for a 400m contest to represent his country in the big event. Besides this, he will also be competing in the 400m relay competition.
At the World Championships in Berlin, South Africa stirred-up a controversy when the country allowed an athlete of an uncertain gender to represent the country in the mega athletics event. Named as Caster Semenya, the runner bagged the 800m women’s race
title in the event, however, on a later thought, the IAAF suspended the runner from competitions unless a test was carried to assess her true gender, which resulted in highlighting the girl as an inclusive gender.
However, as per latest news, Semenya has now been confirmed as a woman and authorities have allowed her to appear in the women category events. The time when the contingent for Daegu was announced, besides Pistorius, she was also taken on board for the trip
to South Korea.
Just like Semenya, Pistorius, the 24-year-old athlete also had to face some major obstacles before getting the permission to line-up among normal runners. The young passionate runner, who lost his legs at the age of 11 months, earned this permission after
taking his matter into court and winning the case in the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
During the Olympic competition, the athlete successfully achieved a ‘B’ grade, though he just missed the ‘A’ grade which was a license to appear at the World Championships. Realising his potential, he did not take long before overcoming this barrier as well,
in result of which he is now travelling to the World Championships, where he will also compete in the relay competitions.
Sharing his thoughts about the chance to contest against one of the most formidable fields in the world, the South African said, “I have dreamt for such a long time of competing in a major championships and this is a very proud moment in my life.”
He was of the view that if he succeeded in finishing at any of the top-three positions, he will be thrilled by the results.
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