3 Sep 2012

Peeved Pistorious opens can of worms

2:19 pm on 3 September 2012

Oscar Pistorius has complained bitterly about a rival's artificial limbs after suffering a shock loss at the London Paralympics.

After spending years in a successful battle for the right to race his leg blades against able-bodied runners at the Olympics, the South African was left fuming after his first-ever loss over 200m in Paralympic competition.

Runner-up Pistorius claimed Brazil's gold medallist Alan Oliveira and third-placed Blake Leeper had an unfair advantage in the way they set up their blades.

Oliveira came from several metres behind on the bend to run him down the South African and win by 0.07 seconds.

Pistorius slammed the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), saying the extra height of his opponents in their blades gave them an edge.

Oliveira finished with a time of 21.45 seconds, seven tenths of a second ahead of Pistorius with American Blake Leeper in third.