BEIJING: Oscar “Blade Runner” Pistorius yesterday won his second gold of the Paralympic Games as China stretched its lead at the top of the medals table.
And there was controversy as Iran abruptly withdrew from their men’s wheelchair basketball quarterfinal with the United States complaining of a change in schedule.
Pistorius — aiming for a sprint treble here — was dominant down the home straight, finishing in 21.67secs, almost a second clear of Jim Bob Bizzell from the United States, with Britain’s Ian Jones in third.
“This race is definitely going down as one of my best ever races. I’ve never run in front of a crowd this big and just the crowd, the athletes, it was an awesome race and I couldn’t have hoped for anything better,” he said.
The 21-year-old said he had been feeling a little unwell in the run-up to the final but that adrenaline saw him home. “This is definitely one of the most amazing nights ever. It’s really been a good memory.” Pistorius has just one race left, the 400m, in which he is targeting a world record.
“I’m really looking forward to the 400m. If those two races, if it goes like that, then I’ll be extremely happy,” said the South African, the world record holder in his category in all three events.
Nicknamed after the carbon fiber blades he wears, Pistorius won a court battle to take part in the Olympics after proving himself a strong competitor against able-bodied athletes. He eventually failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics, blaming in part the distraction of his court battle, but he is targeting the London 2012 Games.
In the pool, top American swimmer Erin Popovich missed a chance to finish with six golds.
Popovich, who has already won four gold medals in Beijing, was seeking another top finish in the 50 meter butterfly yesterday. But China’s Huang Min beat Popovich by nearly 3 1/2 seconds as she went on to set a world record with a time of 34.47.
“I swam my heart out in that race,” Popovich said. “A world record is huge. (Huang) dropped so much time ... so it’s a huge accomplishment for her. She just had a better race tonight.”
Popovich, who is a dwarf, won seven gold medals at the Athens Paralympics but was limited to six events this time after a relay was cut from the program. She also won three golds and three silvers as a 15-year-old competing in Sydney in 2000. Popovich’s last race, the 50 meter freestyle, is scheduled for today and she flashed a wide smile as she talked about her preparations despite just losing out on another all-gold Paralympic performance.
“I just have to go get a good cool down, a good night’s sleep and come in tomorrow morning fresh and ready to go,” she said. Host China pulled away in the medal tally with 130 overall, including 49 golds. Ten of those gold medals came Saturday in athletics and swimming. Great Britain was second with 82 medals overall, including 38 golds. The United States was third with 66 overall, 26 gold.
Meanwhile, the Iranian wheelchair basketball team had been due to play the United States in a morning clash but forfeited the game.
A statement from the International Paralympic Committee said Iran had pulled out because they were unhappy with the draw and schedule for the later rounds.
One potential semifinal opponent for Iran had been Israel.
But a member of the Iranian delegation told AFP: “The main reason for not participating is the change of competition time by the organizers” after the game was rescheduled to 9:00 a.m. from 11.15 a.m.
Iranian officials denied the move was politically motivated, although Iran and the United States have no diplomatic relations and the US government has led efforts to challenge Iran’s nuclear program.
Controversies have taken some of the gloss off what has otherwise been a celebration of disabled sports, led by the performances of South African Olympian Natalie du Toit, who has won four golds in the pool, and Pistorius.
So far four athletes, including three powerlifters, have been kicked out of the Games for doping offenses.
And Irish sports chiefs Thursday announced that athlete Derek Malone had been banned from the Paralympics because authorities had deemed him not disabled enough.
A total of 641 doping tests had been carried out at the Games, both in and out of competition, by the end of Thursday.
At the Athens Games, a total of 680 doping tests were conducted, resulting in 10 violations.
More than 4,000 competitors from nearly 150 countries and regions are battling for 472 gold medals in 20 sports at the Paralympics.
