Double Amputee qualifies for semi-finals in 400 m dash in World Athletics Championships

Oscar Pistorius in stride Oscar Pistorius was eleven months old when doctors amputated both of his legs between the knee and ankle. He had been born without a fibula in each leg, and health complications from his condition required that they be removed. Oscar never let that slow him down. By the age of 11 he had been fitted with prosthesis and participated in rugby, water polo, and tennis. At 17 he suffered a serious knee injury while playing rugby and began physical therapy, where he discovered running. In the following years he set multiple world records in parathlete sprinting events and competed against able-bodied athletes in international events.

In 2007 the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) banned "any technical device that incorporates springs, wheels or any other element that provides a user with an advantage over another athlete not using such a device" in running events, a move that it said was unrelated to Oscar's recent successes. Oscar successfully appealed the decision and won the right to compete in world sprinting and Olympic events, despite claims that his lightweight prosthesis gave him an unfair advantage.

In 2008 he competed for the South African track team for the Beijing Olympics but missed qualifying by .70 seconds. Still determined to achieve his dream of competing in the Olympics, he continued to train and on Sunday, August 28 he qualified for the 400m semi-finals at the IAAF World Athletics Championship in Daegu, South Korea. If he is able to run another 'A' qualification time he will have won the right to run with the best in London in 2012, and to be the first amputee in history to compete in the Olympic games.