South African athlete Oscar Pistorius was born without the fibula in both legs. When he was only 11 months old, his parents made the decision to have his limbs amputated below the knee.

As he was growing up, he started running with carbon fibre prosthetic racing blades. He got better at it and started running competitively. Today he is the world record holder in his category for the 100, 200 and 400 meters sprints. Even more remarkably, he took the silver medal for the 400 meters in the 2007 South African National Championship competing against able-bodied runners.

Recently the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned a decision by IAAF that Pistorius' carbon fibre prosthetic racing blades gave him an unfair advantage and that he should be banned from the Olympics and any other able-bodied race.

Now that he has received the go-ahead to compete against able-bodied runners, he is bidding to qualify for the Beijing Olympics. He needs to meet an Olympic qualifying time of 45.55 seconds in the 400 meters race to make the South Africa's relay team.

Athletics South Africa has given him extra time to qualify for the team. Should he succeed, he will make the history books as the first athlete ever to compete in both the Olympics and Paralympics in the same year.

What sheer courage. Many facing similar physical position would have taken a backseat in life but not Oscar Pistorius. Many have written and commentted on Oscar Pistorius. Regardless of what others may say, he is still one heck of a guy to me. If he make it to the Beijing Olympics, he can be assured of a fan here cheering him on.


- The Saint -