EMMELOORD (The Netherlands), June 1: Double amputee Oscar Pistorius, who aims to compete against able-bodied athletes at the Beijing Olympics, won a 200m paralympic meeting in the Dutch city of Emmeloord on Saturday using his specially-adapted carbon fibre blades.

The 21-year-old South African won in 22.04sec and said he was happy with his run — even if he could not quite dip under the 22sec mark.

“My ambition was to run under 22sec but I am satisfied,” said Pistorius, whose personal best over the distance is 21:58.

“It was my first big race for almost 10 months. Recently I’ve spent more time in court than on the track. It’s great to be back running,” said the athlete, cleared to run in the Olympics after the Court of Arbitration (CAS) for Sport overturned an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ban on him competing against able-bodied athletes.

Pistorius, nicknamed Bladerunner, was initially barred from all competitions involving able-bodied athletes because of claims that the artificial legs he uses give him an unfair advantage.

The Paralympic gold medalist on Tuesday refused an invitation to run in the Berlin Golden League meeting that would have pitted him against America’s 400m Olympic and world champion Jeremy Wariner, saying he wanted to concentrate on preparations for the season.—AFP