BEIJING: South Africa’s sprint sensation Oscar “Blade Runner” Pistorius won his third gold of the Beijing Paralympics yesterday as hosts China smashed through the 200-medal mark on the penultimate day.
Meanwhile, Canadian wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc joined swimmers Natalie du Toit from South Africa and Australia’s Matthew Cowdrey as one of the superstars of the Games with five golds.
Also yesterday, Moroccan athlete Sanaa Benhama won the women’s 100m event (T13 category) to secure her third gold medal and the fourth for Morocco.
Benhama, 26, crossed the finish line in a time of 12.28 (a new world record), outperforming South African Iles Hayes (12:45) and Greece Alexandra Dimoglou (12:56).
Pistorius powered clear of his rivals to finish in 47.49secs, ahead of America’s Jim Bob Bizzell and British runner Ian Jones in the “Bird’s Nest” National Stadium on the final night of track and field.
Pistorius, already the 100m and 200m champion in his class, broke his own world mark by almost half a second. “It was definitely something I was hoping for and to end with a world record is a dream come true. This has been by far one of the most memorable competitions of my life,” he said.
The 21-year-old is the world record holder in his category in all three events.
Nicknamed after the carbon fiber blades he wears, Pistorius had already gained fame before Beijing after proving himself a strong competitor against able-bodied athletes and making a high-profile bid to compete in the Olympics.
He eventually failed to qualify for the Olympics but he is targeting the London 2012 Games. Victory in the 1,500m for Petitclerc yesterday adds to golds in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m competitions for the 38-year-old and she joins du Toit and Cowdrey as the only athletes to have won five golds each in Beijing.
Petitclerc, whose grandmother died of cancer just two days before she left Canada, said: “Before I started my grandmother told me ‘go to China and beat them all.’ “So I have got five medals. That is the person that I thought of. I’m really happy.” Away from the “Bird’s Nest,” Australia edged out Canada 72-60 in the final of the men’s wheelchair basketball. As the Games draw to a close, with only a handful of events to come on the last day today, China had 87 golds and 207 medals overall to stand well clear in the medals table.
Britain, which had chased China hard early in the Games, were in second place with 42 golds and 102 medals. The United States were in third place with 36 golds and 98 in total. The Games have been widely praised for their superb organization and the huge crowds that have turned out to watch the sports, particularly at the athletics and swimming. British organizers of the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics yesterday praised the “spectacular” delivery of both events but said they were not daunted by the challenge of following China.
Speaking about the Paralympics, London 2012 organizing committee chairman Sebastian Coe said they would be remembered for “elite sport, superb organization, stunning venues and spectacular opening and closing ceremonies.” Controversies over drugs and classification problems have been among the few issues to cloud the Paralympics here. On Sunday Britain’s Rebecca Chin was stripped of second place over a classifying issue in the women’s discus.
It followed the banning of Irish footballer Derek Malone from the Paralympics because authorities had deemed him not disabled enough, a decision that drew strong condemnation from Ireland’s national sports federation.
Meanwhile four athletes, including three powerlifters, were kicked out of the Paralympics for doping offenses, dashing hopes of a drug-free event.
