Oscar Pistorius

Cast

Born

November 22, 1986 · Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa

Birth name

Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius

Oscar Pistorius was born with fibular hemimelia (congenital absence of the fibula) in both legs, and when he was 11 months old, his legs were amputated halfway between the knee and ankle. Fitted with artificial legs, he played sports at Constantia Kloof Primary and Pretoria Boys High School, including rugby, wrestling, water polo and tennis. After injuring his knee in rugby, he took up running as part of his rehabilitation. He runs with the aid of Cheetah Flex-Foot carbon fiber transtibial artificial limbs by Ossur, and has been the subject of controversy in the acceptance of prosthetics in sports competition. In January of 2008, the IAAF ruled him ineligible for able-bodied competitions as studies showed he might have an advantage over non-disabled runners. However, this ruling was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sports in May of 2008. In 2012 Pistorius is the world record holder for T44 disability classification in the 100, 200 and 400 meter events. In 2012 he also became the first amputee runner to participate in the Olympic Games, where posted a time of 45.44 seconds to advance to the semi-finals of the 400 meter event. However, he failed to make the finals. He also ran in the 4 x 400 meter relay as part of the South African team, but failed to win a medal.