Oscar Pistorius’s goal to become the first amputee competing against able bodied athletics at the Olympic Games suffered a setback when he came seventh in the 400 metres final at the South African championship on Saturday 14th April 2012.
Pistorius, who was born with congenital absence of the fibula in both legs and had both legs amputated halfway between the ankle and the knee at 11 months old, finished in 47.28 seconds behind Lebogang Moeng who won in 45.47.
“It was fine until the 300 then I just felt tired,” he told Reuters.
“I felt at that point I was second coming into the corner and then I felt like I was at the verge of pushing it into the red. I didn’t see the point of really doing that,” he added.
Pistorius’ 47.28 finish was far short of his season best 45.20 and he never looked to be in contention after starting slowly and struggling to keep up with the swift pace set by Moeng.
“It’s not a train-smash at all. I’m not overjoyed but I’m not prepared to get injured now for a title that doesn’t really mean much,” he added.
Pistorius beat the Olympic A standard time of 45.30 in Pretoria last month but he must repeat that performance in an international meeting before June 30 to make the team for the London Games which start in July this year.
Currently just 22 male 400m have met the A standard qualification within the window and a further 19 have met the B standard of 45.90.
