Paralympics: Oscar Pistorius loses 'Battle of the Blade Runners'

Britain's Jonnie Peacock sprinted to glory in the Paralympics' showpiece final, stripping "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius of another title with a lightning-quick 100m.

The 19-year-old, who holds the world record of 10.85sec in the straight sprint, again proved he is the fastest amputee runner in the world by taking gold at the Olympic Stadium yesterday in east London in a new Paralympic record of 10.90sec.

Pistorius, 25, was just out of the medals in fourth, clocking 11.17sec behind compatriot, friend and room-mate Arnu Fourie, who took bronze in 11.08sec and US sprinter Richard Browne, who won silver in 11.03sec.

A stunned Peacock described his win as "amazing" while the South African star was magnanimous in defeat and said the Briton's performance was just the start of a stellar career.

"I can't imagine how happy he must be to do this in front of his home crowd," he told Britain's Channel 4 television. "Well done, it's a great time for him. He's still young and he's got a great future ahead of him."

Organisers had billed the T44 race for single and double below-the-knee amputees as the race of the Games, predicting that all eight finalists could go under 11sec for the first time.

Peacock, a single leg amputee trained by Dan Pfaff who coached Canada's Donovan Bailey to Olympic 100m glory in 1996, signalled his intent in Thursday's heats by equalling the Paralympic record of 11.08sec.

Pistorius, the T44 100m, 200m and 400m champion in Beijing, had warned that he was not favourite for the straight sprint, as he was a one-lap specialist.

The Games' most high-profile athlete, who became the first double-amputee to run in the Olympics last month, had been keen to let his running do the talking after becoming embroiled in a row over artifical blade length.

... contd.

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