Paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius has been included among Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world.
Pistorius, 25, was the only South African named to the list for 2012. It is the second time the bilateral amputee has made the list, which he shares with, among others, Jeremy Lin, Tim Tebow, Barack Obama, and Mitt Romney. He was ranked number 23 on the magazine’s 2008 list
On the Time website, sports columnist Sean Gregory wrote that Pistorius, a four-time Paralympic champion, had shown great character to compete against able-bodied athletes. “Even when the running establishment convinced his blades provided an advantage-tried to confine Pistorius to the Paralympics, he kept pushing his limits and the limits of the human body,” Gregory wrote. “Now he’s won the right to compete against the world’s best. He is the definition of global inspiration.”
Pistorius won a battle against the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in May 2008 when the Court of Arbitration for Sport cleared him to compete in able-bodied championships. In 2011 he became the first amputee to win a track medal at the World Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea, as part of South Africa’s 4×400 meters relay team, which claimed the silver medal. Pistorius has already dipped under the Olympic qualifying standard in the men’s 400m sprint, after he clocked 45.20 seconds in Pretoria, South Africa, in March 2012.
However, he must achieve the qualifying time again-upped from 45.25 to 45.30 seconds-at an international meeting to book his place on the South African team for the 2012 London Paralympic Games.
