In a busy day at the 2009 BT Paralympic World Cup, Oscar Pistorius competed in two events in the Men’s T44 category. He used the 100 metres as a warm up for his signature 400m event. Wearing 99, he pipped Jerome Singleton at the post by 0.03 seconds, stopping the clock at 11.13. He said it was a nervous wait for confirmation of his victory, as he thought Jerome might have fended him off. Speaking afterwards, he also reserved special praise for Britain’s Ian Jones. The Manchester-based athlete managed to record a PB from Lane 1 with a time of 11.49 seconds.
Pistorius, 22, followed this success up with a further victory in his favoured event. This came with a Championship Record time of 50.28 seconds, which is well outside Oscar’s World Record of 47.49 seconds, set in Johannesburg in January of last year. Jones again put in a sterling performance in front of his home ground, recording another personal best.
Although Oscar admitted that neither performance was his best, he did say that he was just pleased to be back out on the track following his speedboat accident earlier this year. The BT Ambassador spoke highly of the Paralympic World Cup, saying that it was a well organised event and one he enjoyed competing in. He went on to say that this would be a busy season for him before returning home to South Africa and continuing his preparations for London 2012, where he may well compete in both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Watch the video to see interviews with Blade Runner after both of his races.......