Oscar Pistorius may have finished a distant eighth in his 400 metres semi finals at the World Athletics in Daegu , South Korea but to just be able to run against able-bodied atheletes was a dream come true for the South African named 'The Blade Runner' or somewhat less flattering the ' The Fastest Man On No Legs 'The double-amputee has specially fitted carbon-fiber blades to propel himself around the track and has so far broken his own 400 metre paralympic world record over 30 times and has won many Gold medals.
Competing against the World's elite at this years games is a true inspiration who despite not qualifying for the Olympics in Beijing never gave up believing that he would get his chance one day.
He has to use the same Prosphetic blades that he was tested on by the Arbitration of Sport and is not allowed to modify them .
There are advantages and disadvantages with having two prostheses , able-bodied runners use their calf muscles to push off from the starting blocks and as Pistorius doesn't have calfs he has to use his hips to get himself going and therefor always starts slowly.
Oscar Pistorius does have an advantage on the straights after he has built up speed ,and at the end of the race when the other runners would suffer fatigue in their legs . He has the ability to power on towards the finish line and catch up on time that he had lost earlier in the race .
This is an historic breakthrough for Paralympic atheletes to not only just qualify for the World Championships but to progress to the semi final and Pistorius dealt with the pressure, prejudice and the attention of the Worlds press to show that the improbable could be achieved .
He runs in the South African 4x100 metre relay team later in the week .
Truly Inspiring to read about a sportsman pushing the boundaries and proving that despite having the lower part of his legs amputated at only 11 months old, he has the drive and ambition to keep pushing his body to greater heights .
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