Click to play videoRome: He is known as the world's fastest man on no legs. He has broken several records in the Paralympics Games and holds the double amputee world record in the 100, 200 and 400 metres. But on Saturday evening in Rome, sprinter Oscar Pistorius of South Africa was preparing for a different race.
For the first time he was up against able-bodied athletes gathered at an international competition in Rome. And it was a race to remember though he was slow out of the blocks he made an impressive comeback in the final stretch of this 400 meter sprint ending up second.
"My goal is obviously to qualify for the Olympics whether next year or 2012. This is what I'm working hard on and I hope that pulls through," 20-year-old Oscar Pistorius says.
To reach Olympic levels, Pistorius still faces two hurdles. He needs to run the 400 metres a good second faster than Saturday's performance. And athletics officials have yet to approve his artificial limbs for the Olympics.
"I don't think the Federation (IAAF) has any choice really, you know, there is no advantage that these limbs are giving me and there is no way that they contribute," Pistorius explains.
To determine whether his blade-like limbs give him an advantage officials recorded Pistorius' race with high definition cameras.
It will take athletics officials weeks if not months to decide whether Pistorius' artificial limbs are giving him an unfair advantage. Either way he has already won the challenge of bringing the talent of disabled athletes to the international arena.
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