LONDON, Sept 1 (Reuters) – South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius
smashed the 200 metres T44 world record in his heat as he made
his London 2012 Paralympics debut on Saturday.
Pistorius ran 21.30, shaving more than half a second off the
previous record set by Brazilian Alan Fonteles Cardoso Oliveira
in an earlier heat.
The 25-year-old, who is dubbed the ‘Blade Runner’, is
defending the 100m, 200m and 400m Olympic titles he won in
Beijing four years ago.
Pistorius, who wears carbon fibre prosthetic blades after
he was born without a fibula in both legs, became the first
double amputee to run in the Olympics, where he made the 400
metres semi-finals.
(Reporting by Toby Davis; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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