‘Blade Runner’ the most high-profile Paralympian ever

The lifelong determination of Oscar Pistorius to transcend traditional sporting boundaries turned him into the most high-profile Paralympic athlete of all time.

Long before the South African ‘Blade Runner’ became an international icon for both his athletic exploits and campaign to compete on an equal basis against able-bodied Olympians, he was refusing to accept the limitations of his disability.

“In my mind there have never been any barriers for me in sport,” said Mr Pistorius. “I don’t perceive myself as having a disability. I see only my ability.”

He was born without either of his fibula — the bones in the lower leg — and had a double amputation below the knee when he was about a year old.

But he enthusiastically engaged in all forms of school sport, particularly athletics and rugby.

His life was touched by tragedy when his mother died from an allergic reaction to treatment for suspected malaria when he was just 15 years old.

In an early indication that he would soon aspire to new sporting heights, he took part in the able-bodied South African Championships in 2005, finishing sixth in the 400m.

In Dec 2007, the International Association of Athletics Federations told him his blades gave him an unfair advantage over his competitors, and the next month banned him from all able-bodied competitions.

Unsurprisingly, he refused to accept his fate, taking his case to the Court of Arbitration For Sport, which ruled in his favour in May 2008.

In 2011, he became the first Paralympian to win a World Championship medal when he claimed bronze in the 4x400m final. He did not compete in the final, but was awarded the medal for his participation in the heats.

At London 2012, he became the first Paralympic athlete to compete on the track at a Games, reaching the semi-finals of the 400m.

At the Paralympics, he smashed the T44 200m world record in his heat but finished second in the final behind Brazil’s Alan Oliveira, after which he launched into a furious TV interview, claiming the length of Oliveira’s blades were “ridiculous”, adding: “We aren’t racing a fair race.”

Mr Pistorius was widely criticised for his comments but the incident came to be seen as a shift-change in Paralympic sport, in which the will to win had overtaken the cosy notion of pure participation.

He went on to win the 4x100m title and the 400m individual race.