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Lead Stories: Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Paralympic gold-medalist strives for Olympic history

Posted January 22nd, 2007 at 11:00 AM by Kevin McGinn

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

Oscar Pistorius, a paralympic gold-medalist, is fighting his way to an enormous personal and historical victory. With a mere three-second improvement he will surpass his own world record (47.3 seconds in the 400m) and get a step closer to qualifying for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. If Pistorius succeeds, he could become the first handicapped-athlete to ever compete in the able-bodied Olympics.

Pistorius was born with a condition afflicting his legs; rendering him without bone mass from both the knees down. This condition left him no choice but to have both of his legs amputated; a surgery that took place when he was only eleven-months old.

Although he began his track career just a few, short few years ago, Pistorius has already become quite an accomplished athlete; setting para-athletic world records in the 100m (11.16 sec), 200m (21.97), and 400m length events.

Pistorius is quite optimistic about his chances of achieving his next dream and qualifying for the Olympics; a feat that appears to be rather attainable.
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