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Lead Stories: Saturday, August 30, 2008

Pisorius sets new WR; Tom Hanks reportedly set to bid on rights to his life story

Posted March 14th, 2007 at 3:15 PM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Motivation, Success Stories, Track & Field, Columns, SPOTLIGHT

Oscar Pistorius, the elite South African amputee runner, is now a step closer to becoming the first amputee and/or physically handicapped-runner to qualify for the able-bodied Olympics.

Last Friday, Oscar set a new P.R. and broke his own 400m Paralympic world record (47:34) with a time of 46 seconds flat at the Yellow Pages Track and Field series meet. If Oscar is able to run the 400m about a second faster, he should be able to qualify for South Africa’s Olympic team.

Two days later, The Times reported that Tom Hanks, who won an Oscar for his leading role in Forrest Gump, will bid on the rights to Oscar’s incredible life story with the intention of producing a film via his Playtone label.

Forrest Gump (1994), a modern classic that earned six Oscars, demonstrated the obstacles faced by amputees through Gary Sinise’s portrayal of Lt. Dan Taylor and a love for running via Forrest Gump (Hanks).
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