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Oscar Pistorius and his glorious dream
This double-amputee is set for his first race in a bid to qualify for the Beijing Olympics
THUMBS UP: Oscar Pistorius at a press conference in Milan on Tuesday.
MILAN: Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius knows he is a long shot for the Beijing Olympics, but he is still wearing his ambition on his sleeve. Or chest, rather.
Pistorius, who competes in Milan on Wednesday in his first attempt to reach a qualifying time for Beijing, wore a T-shirt with “Olympic Dream” emblazoned on the front at a news conference on Tuesday. On the back was a quote from Nelson Mandela: “A winner is only a dreamer who hasn’t given up.”
“The Olympic dream is a dream and the dream is a never-ending thing,” Pistorius said. “Whether I make it this time or in 2012, it’s just a matter of time until I qualify. If I have to be more realistic, then 2012, but I am here to try to qualify for Beijing.”
Pistorius resumed training six weeks ago after a sports arbitration court ruled that he was eligible to run in Beijing. The court overturned a decision by the IAAF that Pistorius’ carbon fibre prosthetic racing blades gave him an unfair advantage and that he should be banned from the Olympics and any other able-bodied race.
“Training has gone very well, but whether it is enough to qualify, we’ll find out tomorrow and in the next two and a half weeks,” Pistorius said.
He will compete in three races — Milan on Wednesday, Rome on July 11 and Lucerne, Switzerland on July 16 — in an attempt to qualify. He’ll also run a 200-metre race in Lignano, Italy on July 13 “for fun,” to work on his sprinting. The 21-year-old must bring his 400-metre time under 45.55 seconds. His lifetime best is 46.36.
The challenge is made more difficult by the fact that he spent most of 2008 away from training to concentrate on fighting the ban, which was lifted May 16.
“I’m confident, I have to stay confident. But at the same time, you have to be realistic,” Pistorius said. “I feel strong, but you can’t stay off the track for most of the year and expect times to be fabulous.”
His most realistic shot to compete in the August 8-24 Beijing Olympic games would be as part of South Africa’s four-man relay, for which six team members are chosen. Pistorius’ manager Peet van Zyl said he might be able to qualify for that with a time of 46.1 or 46.2, depending on how the other runners fare.
“What I would like is to be in the top four. I want to bring something to the team,” Pistorius said. “London [in 2012] is a far more realistic target. Sprinters peak at 27 to 29. I’ll be 25 in London and that will be the beginning of the peak,” he said.
The South African athletics federation has moved its deadline for choosing its Olympic team to July 17 to give the runner more time to try to qualify. Whatever happens, Pistorius said he will compete in the September 6-17 Paralympics in Beijing.
Pistorius said he was glad to start his qualifying campaign in Italy, a country that has taken his cause to heart. He made his first trip to Italy a year ago, competing in his first able-bodied competition at the Golden Gala in Rome.
Calling his affair with Italy “a quick love,” he has been back seven or eight times since, and was in Milan six weeks ago when his ban was overturned.
A book about his life — DreamRunner — is first coming out in Italian. The book goes on sale in Italy on Wednesday and publisher Rizzoli said it is negotiating the rights for translations. “There’s no better place for me to try to qualify,” Pistorius said. — AP
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