Oscar Pistorius

Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius is a South African sprint runner. Even though he has has double below-knee amputations, he is the T44 world record holder for the 200 and 400 metres events, and the joint T43 record holder for the 100 metres. Although eligible to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, Pistorius did not qualify for the South African team. In his attempt to qualify for the 400 metres he achieved third place and a personal best time of 46.25 seconds in Lucerne, Switzerland, on 16 July 2008. At the 2008 Summer Paralympics, he won gold medals in the 100, 200 and 400 metres (T44) sprints. With his 400 metres time of 45.07 seconds on 19 July 2011, he achieved the \"A\" qualifying standard for the 2011 World Championships and 2012 Summer Olympics. As part of South Africa\'s silver medal winning relay team, he became the first amputee to win an able-bodied world track medal although he was not selected for the final. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Pistorius became the first double leg amputee to participate in the Olympics when he entered the men\'s 400 metres race and was part of South Africa\'s 4 × 400 metres relay team. He won gold medals in the men\'s 400 metre race in a Paralympic record time of 46.68 seconds and in the 4 × 100 metres relay in a world record time of 41.78 seconds. He also took a silver in the 200 metres race, having set a world record of 21.30 seconds in the semifinal.