Oscar “the Blade Runner” Pistorius won a silver medal but missed the 45.30 second Olympic 400m individual qualifying time by two-tenths of a second at the African Championships, Porto Novo, Benin, on June 29. The South African ran inside the individual 400m qualifying time after running 45.20 seconds in Pretoria, South Africa, in March. But South Africa’s track federation wants athletes to run the “A” qualifying time of 45.30 seconds twice and at least once at an international meet to be considered for the Olympic Games, according to an article in the U.K. newspaper The Telegraph.
The 25 year old is still hopeful that he will be able to compete in the Olympics in the 400m relay team event. The 46.14-second semifinal and 45.53-second final lap times gave him a “B”-category qualifying time, which allows him to be considered for selection.
