Blade Runner makes Olympic history

5 Aug 2012, 6:43 am   -   Source: AAP
South African Oscar Pistorius made history when he became the first amputee to race on the Olympic track. (Reuters)

South African Oscar Pistorius made history when he became the first amputee to race on the Olympic track. (Reuters)

South African Oscar Pistorius made history when he became the first amputee to race on the Olympic track, and he progressed to the 400m second round.

RELATED

Few athletes seize the spotlight when they share the same track on the same day as Usain Bolt, but "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius is an exception.

He made history on Saturday by becoming the first amputee to compete on the track at an Olympics, finishing second in his 400m heat to advance to the second round.

"I was so nervous. Thanks to everyone for showing their support," the South African said.

"I didn't know whether to cry. I had a mixture of emotions. It was the most amazing experience."

Pistorius, a double-amputee who runs on carbon-fibre blades, is the latest in a long line of Olympic athletes whose remarkable, inspiring and controversial stories are about the journey as much as the destination.

The 25-year-old runner was born without fibulas and his legs were amputated below the knee before he was a year old.

He has won four Paralympic gold medals but had to fight a long battle to win the right to run against able-bodied opponents, appearing at countless inquiries to prove his man-made limbs did not give him an advantage.

"I just see him as another athlete, another competitor," world champion Kirani James said.

Luguelin Santos of the Dominican Republic, who won the heat but went virtually unnoticed, said: "I love him. He's a good racer."

Pistorius received a huge roar from an appreciative capacity crowd of 82,000 at the Olympic stadium which was also due to host superstar Usain "Lightening" Bolt in heats of the 100m as he began the defence of his 100m, 200m and 4x100m titles from the Beijing Games.

More history was in store as Russia's Elena Savelyeva and Hye Song Kim of North Korea were due to become the first female boxers to compete at an Olympic Games.

And in the pool, Michael Phelps will say goodbye to the Olympics as he bids to win one more gold medal in the men's 4x100m medley relay to take his tally to an amazing 18 golds and 22 overall.

He's won three golds and two silvers so far in London, but says he's yet to comprehend fully that he's swum his last individual Olympic race.

"I thought it would hit me a lot harder than it is right now," the American said after winning the 100m butterfly.

"A lot of those emotions haven't really come through my brain over the last week. Once I'm done, and once tomorrow is over, I think there's going to be a lot more emotion that really comes out."

And tennis great Roger Federer was involved in a slice of history as well, winning the longest match ever at the Olympics when he beat Argentinian Juan Martin Del Potro 3-6, 7-6, 19-17 in an epic semi-final in which the third set lasted 163 minutes.

The 17-time grand slam winner, who has never won an Olympic singles medal, will meet Andy Murray in a Wimbledon final re-match after the Briton beat Serbia's Novak Djokovic 7-5 7-5.

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube