Pistorius rules at IPC Athletics World Championships

Pistorius rules at IPC Athletics World Championships

“Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius stamped his class on the IPC World Athletics Championships in Christchurch this morning with an emphatic win in the T44 200m final.

Running into a fresh breeze for the first 40m, Pistorius “exploded” on the corner to dominate the world-class field.

After main rival Jerome Singleton made a lightning start to lead early, Pistorius gathered the American in on the turn and powered away to win by nearly a second in 21.80, 0.22secs outside his world record.

“I’m extremely happy with that performance,” the South African said at the conclusion of the race. “It is probably the strongest 200m field ever assembled and for this time of the year it is a pretty good time.”

Pistorius is more guarded about his chances tomorrow in the 100m, stating that there are several in the field who are specialists over this distance where he has been concentrating more on the longer events. Singleton, who he beat by only 0.03secs at the Paralympics in Beijing, will again be his main rival.

While there are no New Zealanders competing today, three will be in action tomorrow. Kate Horan (Wellington) has the 100m T44 heats at 9.45am and the 200m final at 5pm. Joe Flavell (Auckland) has the F42 shot put at 11am and Matthew Lack (Opotiki) has the 1500m heats at 6.36pm.

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