Oscar Pistorius's Biography
Oscar Pistorius was born on 22 November 1986 in Gauteng in Pretoria in South Africa.
Oscar Pistorius was born without calf bones and just two toes on each foot. When he was 17 months old his parents, Sheila and Henke took the decision to have Oscar's legs amputated below the knee.
His mother died due to an allergic reaction when Oscar was 15.
Oscar Pistorius now has carbon-fibre prosthetic limbs, which are moulded into a j-shape inspired by a cheetah's back legs.
Initially, Oscar Pistorius hated athletics and only took it up to help his recovery from a rugby injury.
Soon afterwards, however, in March 2004, Oscar Pistorius became South Africa champion, and followed up by winning 200m gold at the 2004 Paralympics and 100m and 200m gold at the 2005 Paralympic World Cup.
Oscar Pistorius has also competed in able-bodied athletics events and he came second in the South African championships' 400 metres in 2007.
Pistorius has had a long battle fighting for the right to enter the able-bodied Olympics. In January 2008, the IAAF ruled that Pistorius was ineligible for the Olympics as his blades were considered technical aids which could give him an advantage, however in May 2008 the Court of Arbitration for Sport overruled the IAAF decision.
Although in July 2008 Oscar Pistorius did not achieve the individual Olympic 400m qualifying standard, he still hoped for a place the South African 4x400m relay squad.
Oscar Pistorius suffered head and facial injuries in a boating accident in Johannesburg in February 2009, but confirmed he was fit enough to compete at the BT Paralympic World Cup in Manchester in May 2009.
Oscar Pistorius has written an autobiography entitled Blade Runner.
On 19 July 2009, the BBC reported that Oscar Pistorius had given up trying to qualify for the 400m at the World Athletics Championships.
Although he ran a season's best of 47.07 seconds in Lucerne the previous week, it was short of the qualifying time of 45.95.
In September 2009, Oscar Pistorius faced charges of injuring a party guest at his home, having allegedly slammed the door of his home on the leg of Miranda Stoltz whom he had kicked out of a party.
On 14 August 2010, Oscar Pistorius set a new world record in winning the 400m disability race at the Diamond League meeting with a time of 47.04 seconds.
In July 2011, Oscar Pistorius ran the 400m qualifying time for the 2011 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics, thereby putting himself in contention for selection by South Africa.
Further reading On Oscar Pistorius: BBC - Blade Runner's ongoing battle and The Telegraph - Olympics: Oscar Pistorius has spring in step.
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