China climbed to the top of the Paralympics medals table on Monday as South African ”Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius began his bid for a sprint treble and compatriot Natalie du Toit won her second gold in the pool.
On the first day of athletics action at the Bird’s Nest national stadium, South Africa’s double amputee track sensation broke the Games record in his 100m heat.
Pistorius clocked 11,16 seconds and set his sights on a world record in Tuesday’s final.
”I’m really excited for what’s going to come tomorrow [Tuesday]. I think it’s going to be a very memorable race,” he said.
”The 100m is not my specialty, but the guy who wins the 100m is the fastest runner and at the end of the day it’s a title I’d like to have,” said Pistorius, nicknamed after the carbon-fibre blades he wears.
The 21-year-old said the world record of 10,91secs was in his sights. ”I hope to run under 11 [seconds] tomorrow. That’s going to my goal. With the extra competition from Marlon [Shirley] and Brian [Frasure], that will definitely be possible.”
Pistorius, who holds the world marks in his category for the 100m, 200m and 400m, won a court battle to compete at last month’s Olympics, but failed to qualify and now has his sights set on the London 2012 Games.
‘I just did my best’
Meanwhile, high-profile Olympian Du Toit won the 100m freestyle gold in her category to go with her 100m butterfly win.
The 24-year-old, who finished 16th in the 10km marathon swim in the Olympics, is aiming for three more wins to match her gold tally at the Athens Paralympics.
”I was expecting to do a little bit more than I did. But I got out there and I just did my best. But I’m not a sprinter,” Du Toit said.
”I’m going to have two days off so I’ll have a massage and then come back and swim the 50m freestyle, 400m freestyle and 200m individual medley. There’s going to be some great races.”
Du Toit won five golds and a silver at the Athens Paralympics. She lost her left leg in a road accident in 2001 after narrowly missing qualification for the Sydney Olympics a year earlier.
China had eight golds at the end of day two of competition, along with the United States, with Britain on seven. However, China had 28 medals in total, compared with 17 for the US.
China, which topped the medals table at the 2004 Athens Paralympics with 63 golds ahead of Britain and Canada, is widely expected to dominate again — and even more comprehensively than at last month’s Olympics.
More than 4 000 competitors from nearly 150 countries and regions are battling for 472 gold medals in 20 sports at the eye-catching venues used for the Olympics, such as the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube.
The sports at the Paralympics, which end on September 17, include athletics, swimming, powerlifting, wheelchair fencing and five-a-side and seven-a-side football, as well as the lesser-known goalball and boccia.
China, eager to showcase the progress it has made in catering for the disabled, has adopted the motto ”Two Games with Equal Splendour” for the Games, comparing them with the Olympics. — Sapa-AFP