The Blade Runner is at it again.
On Saturday at Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island, South African track star Oscar Pistorius will tighten the bolts on his carbon fiber legs and sprint one lap around the 400-meter track against world and Olympic medalists at the adidas Grand Prix, part of the elite Diamond League series.
If he runs fast enough, he could earn a qualifying time for the 2012 London Olympics.
"I know they're going to be extremely fast on the first 200 meters," Pistorius said of the field that will include Jeremy Wariner, the 2004 Olympic champion. "I'm just going to try not to lose too much contact with them. Then I've got to blast it at the end."
For Pistorius, whose lower legs were amputated when he was an infant, running the first half of the race faster than the last 200 meters is a new strategy. Already, it has produced his lifetime best 45.61, against able-bodied athletes at a regional meet in Pretoria in March.
That performance may earn him a berth at the world championships in Daegu, South Korea, this summer, but it will not count toward his Olympic eligibility because he ran it 42 days too soon. (The Olympic qualifying period began on May 1.)
Click here for more about the amputee Olympic hopeful from the Wall Street Journal.
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