Oscar Pistorius is best known for his major accomplishments and world records, including 4 gold medals in the Paralympics but here at Carbon Fiber Gear, he is notorious for his carbon fiber prosthetic legs. At just 11 months old, both of his legs had to be amputated below the knee due to a bone defect. But that sure hasn’t stopped him. We have actually written about Pistorius before, regarding his meeting with Ellie May, a five-year-old little girl who also sports carbon fiber prosthetic legs since the age of 16 months due to a near fatal case of meningitis.
Pistorius, also dubbed as “Blade Runner” and the “fastest man with no legs” was named in both the individual 400m and the South Africa 4x400m relay squad for London 2012.
“Today is truly one of the proudest days of my life. To have been selected to represent Team South Africa at the London 2012 Olympic Games in the individual 400m and the 4x400m relay is a real honor and I am so pleased that years of hard work, determination and sacrifice have all come together,” he posted on his official website earlier this month when he found out he had placed. “I have a phenomenal team behind me who have helped get me here and will now put everything we can into the final few weeks of preparations before the Olympic Games where I am aiming to race well, post good times and maybe even a personal best time on the biggest stage of them all.”
The South African native sports the Cheetah Flex-Foot carbon fiber limbs, a custom-built and high-performance carbon fiber foot designed by Össur, primarily for sporting activities.
A few years ago Pistorius found himself in a legal battle with the IAAF because some were worried Pistorius may have an unfair advantage by competing with artificial limbs. “I was starting to run times which allowed me to compete internationally on the able-bodied circuit,” he said. After hiring a top of the line legal team, his case was taken to the Court of Arbitration in Sport, ultimately overturning the ban and allowing him the ability and right to compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Unfortunately, his times did not qualify so he took part in the Paralympics. Which is why the entire world will be watching him in just days as he finally has the chance to compete in the 2012 London Olympics. I can’t wait to see him in action, so make sure to tune into this year’s Olympics to see how our carbon fiber buddy does.