South Africa’s champion amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius, who runs with carbon-fibre blades below both knees, will take on Olympic and world 400m champion Jeremy Wariner in his international top-flight debut against able-bodied athletes.
Pistorius is fighting for the right to compete in the Beijing Olympic Games, and the sport’s world governing body, the IAAF, will use the July 15 race as a test to see whether he gets an unfair advantage running on his artificial lower limbs.
”With the likes of Jeremy Wariner in the field, I couldn’t ask for a stronger test,” the South African said. ”But these are the sort of challenges I want.”
Pistorius, who is nicknamed ”Blade Runner”, is the double-amputee world record holder for the 100m, 200m and 400m, and recently finished runner-up in the South African national championships for able-bodied athletes.
The IAAF passed a rule in March that banned any athlete from regular meets if they gained a benefit from artificial help. It has since changed its position, and wants to use the British Grand Prix meet at Sheffield as part of its research into whether Pistorius gets an advantage from his blades.
Although Pistorius is scheduled to run in a ”B” race in Rome two days earlier, the Sheffield meet marks his first top-flight event against able-bodied runners.
Pistorius says his blades give him no advantage or extra energy, and that his stride is no longer than anyone else’s.
”They are passive devices. If anything, I am at more of a disadvantage,” he said. ”I have no ankles. There is less blood flowing through my body. I have no calf muscles so I have to use more muscles to do what they would.
”These exact feet have been used for 14 years and there has never been a Paralympic sprinter to run my times.” — Sapa-AP