April 13 (Reuters) – Double amputee Oscar Pistorius scraped
into the 400 metres final at the South African championships on
Friday saying he did not feel the need to push himself in the
heats.
Pistorius, who wants to become the first amputee athlete to
compete at an Olympics, looked at ease when finishing second in
a time of 48.34 seconds in his heat.
He then placed fourth in the semi-final with 47.91 behind
top qualifier Lebogang Moeng (46.69) at a windy Nelson Mandela
University in Port Elizabeth.
“I’d like to finish in the top three tomorrow. Lebogang is
in good shape, he went out very hard in the semi and the heat. I
don’t know, that’s not the tactic I would have chosen,”
Pistorius told reporters.
“There’s nothing to prove by winning a semi.
“Tomorrow is going to be quite a tough day. Coming out of
the 300 today, I was in second place very comfortably. I didn’t
see a need to push it,” he added.
The 25-year-old sprinter, who uses carbon fibre prosthetic
running blades, dipped below the Olympic qualifying time of
45.30 in Pretoria last month, clocking 45.20.
He needs to repeat that performance in an international
meeting in order to qualify for the South African team.
Pistorius has a busy international schedule planned in order
to meet qualifying standard for the London Games, which start in
July.
“I’ll find out soon whether I’ll be running in Doha on May
11. I’m waiting for them to get back to us. Ostrava is
guaranteed on the 25th, Hengelo is confirmed on the 27th in the
Netherlands. On June 4 it is the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon
and on the 11th is the Diamond League in New York,” said
Pistorius.
(Writing by Jason Humphries in Durban; Editing By Alison
Wildey)
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