In spite of the fact that the participant of the Olympic Games in London Oscar Pistorius wasn't considered as the real contender the victory, spectators with interest watched starts of this runner. The reason of such attention is that the South African sprinter became the first-ever Paralympian with artificial limbs who competed at the Olympic Games on an equal basis with healthy athletes.
Oscar Pistorius was born in 1986 in Johannesburg. The boy had the congenital defect – lack of both low-tibial bones. Doctors insisted on amputation of both legs below the knee, and advised to make it as soon as possible to accelerate adaptation of the child. Parents of future champion agreed to operation when Pistorius was only 11 months old, and at the age of 13 months he already carried special artificial limbs.
The Oscar attended usual school for boys where it actively played sports. Despite the physical illness, he was fond of rugby, tennis, run, water polo, fight. Having got injured on the knee at school competitions, Pistorius had to refuse some sports disciplines, in particular, from the rugby which is so loved by it.
The coach paid attention that the young man shows surprising results in sprint runnings, and advised it to focus on this sport. The Paralympic Games in Athens in 2004 became the first large international start for Pistorius. There the athlete won two awards: the bronze medal in the running on 100 meters and gold at the distance in 200 m. However the athlete wasn't going to be satisfied with what has already been achieved. Having begun to compete at competitions for ordinary runners, Pistorius showed unprecedented results: in the Roman tournament in 2007 it won "silver" at the distance in 400 meters. It would seem, the series of successful starts at competitions for ordinary runners foretold to Oscar Pistorius outstanding sports career, however in 2008 the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) decided to debar the athlete from the tournaments which aren't intended for persons with disabilities. Its decision was based on the researches claiming that the easy and springing artificial limbs give to Pistorius advantage before ordinary runners. For run the athlete uses the artificial limbs developed by the Icelandic experts "Gepardovy flexible legs" (Cheetah Flex-Foot) worth more than 30 thousand dollars. Thanks to them the nickname "Running on the Razor Edge" was assigned to Pistorius. These artificial limbs are made of the coal plastic which is strong, but very light material. Despite some advantages which they give to the runner the artificial limbs at the same time complicate participation in competitions, creating difficulties on turns and slowing down start. These arguments helped Pistorius to challenge the solution of IAAF, having appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The athlete couldn't be qualified on the Olympic Games in Beijing, however he participated in the Paralympic Games of 2008. These competitions brought to Pistorius 3 gold medals and the Paralympic record at the distance of 400 meters. Continuing the strengthened trainings, the athlete sought to performance of the cherished dream – to compete at the Summer Olympic Games. 2011 was marked for Oscar Pistorius by one more victory: he became the first-ever Paralympian with the amputated legs who managed to run the distance in 400 meters quicker than in 46 seconds. The personal record set by the athlete in the small Italian town of Linyano (45.07 seconds on the 400 meters), allowed it to be qualified on the World Cup in track and field athletics of 2011 and the Olympic Games in London. Having competed at the World Cup in the semi-final of relay of 4x400 m in national team of the Republic of South Africa, Pistorius became his runner-up. The performance at the Olympic Games became the main event of 2012 for the athlete. In individual competitions Oscar Pistorius couldn't break through in final runnings, however he was lucky participate in the final of men's relay of 4x400 m in national team of the country. Oscar got the final fourth stage. Following the results of relay the team of the Republic of South Africa took the eighth place. Despite the unsuccessful performance at the Olympic Games-2012, Oscar Pistorius on the personal example proved that disfiguration shouldn't be the obstacle in the way to performance of the dream.