Posted on 06 April 2007 - 14:14
Oscar Pistorius capped a sensational Nedbank Championships for the Physically Disabled when he broke the world record in the 400 metres at Johannesburg in Germiston Stadium.
This was Pistorius’s fourth gold medal and third world record of the championships as he illustrated once again what a phenomenal sprinter he is.
The 20-year-old clocked a time of 49.16secs, shaving .26secs off the previous world record of 49.42secs.
"It was a very easy, relaxed run today. I came out here to enjoy the run and soak in the atmosphere.
“The time was a lot slower than anything I’ve run this season but I’m happy with the Paralympic world record.”
On Wednesday, Pistorius became the first amputee sprinter to dip below the 11secs mark when he broke the 100 metres world record in a time of 10.91secs.
The Pretoria student bettered his great rival, American Marlon Shirley’s world record of 11.08secs.
Shirley, a multiple Paralympic gold medallist, has run 10.97secs, but this time has never been ratified.
Later on Wednesday, Pistorius joined David Roos, Arnu Fourie and Johannes Louw to win the 4x100 metres gold medal in a time of 44.31secs, just .03 secs off world record time.
On Thursday Pistorius clocked a time of 21.58secs to break the 200 metres world record of 21.66secs he set at the World Championships in Holland last year.
Meanwhile Teboho Mogkalagadi added to his impressive medal tally, with gold in his 400 metre race. Mogkalagadi - a winner of the 100 metres and 200 metres at the Athens Paralympics - ran a time of 1min .06secs.
Hilton Langenhoven and Jonathan Ntutu also won gold in their 400 metre races. Langenhoven in a time of 50.16secs and Ntutu in a time of 53.20secs.
Finally, Nicholas Newman took gold in his javelin category, with a throw of 34.03 metres.