The South African (pictured top), who has uniquely bridged the Olympic/Paralympic divide, defended his 400 metres T44 title in a Paralympic record of 46.68sec, finishing 40 metres clear of his nearest rival with both arms outstretched in triumph.

Having qualified more than two seconds clear of his nearest rival Blake Leeper – who took silver in an area record of 50.14 with fellow American David Prince taking bronze in a T44 world record of 50.61 – Pistorius knew he would have to do something spectacularly wrong not to earn a first individual gold of these Games.

But having lost so traumatically to Brazil's Alan Oliveira in the 200m final last Sunday (September 2), there was a lingering feeling that the South African might be in line for further upset by some means or other.

Not so, however, as he made emphatically clear from the very first to the last triumphant step, with Oliveira, his bête noire, a distant fourth in a personal best of 51.59.

Pistorius was always likely to be a central figure at these Paralympics – and so it has proved, although not perhaps for the reasons most envisaged.

Oscar Pistorius (centre), alongside David Prince (left) and Blake Leeper, celebrates on the 400m T44 podium

The man who took gold over 100m, 200m and 400m at the Beijing Games has found the going tougher here.

His 100m title was not one he expected to defend, given that he had had to lose pure sprinting bulk in order to better his chances in the foregoing Olympics at which he made a unique appearance, reaching the individual semi-finals and running in the 4x400m final.

But his defeat in the 200m by Oliveira was his first over that distance in seven years, and the South African's comments in the aftermath alleging that the Brazilian – like him, a double-leg amputee – had gained an unfair advantage by using prosthetic blades which were too long opened up a complex but vitally important debate about this area of Paralympic competition.

The 25-year-old from Pretoria put in what some might view as his most impressive performance of the Games as he worked to correct what was the first big PR mistake of his career – but despite regretting the timing of his comments, he remained insistent that the issue he raised was valid, and the subsequent reaction of several other amputee athletes confirmed this position.

Tonight, however, the Pistorius talking point returned to the subject of performance.

His time was not a world record because he is classified T43, running as a double amputee among single amputees.

American Blake Leeper is all smiles after claiming the 400m T44 silver medal

But it emphasised the fact that, at this distance at any rate, Pistorius is operating at another level from any other Paralympian on earth.

"Winning tonight was very, very special to me," Pistorius said.

"It was the last event of the Paralympics and I wanted to be able to come out and give the crowd something they could appreciate and take home with them.

I was very, very nervous before my race, and I was a little tired.

"But I am so thankful to have been able to perform as I wanted."

Asked about what he expected from the man who had beaten him to the 200m gold, Pistorius responded:  "It was very difficult to know to know what race he was going to run after his heat, where he ran the first 300 and in essence just jogged the last 100, so I didn't know what to expect."

Reflecting upon the fact that he had played the concluding part on the Paralympic track, Pistorius added: "That made me so proud.

"This summer has been a dream come true.

"I want to thank Lord Coe and his team for putting on the most amazing Olympics and Paralympics.

"This summer has been one of the highlights of my life.

"It's just been a blessing."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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