Records tumble as Pistorius escapes punishment
LONDON (AFP) –
South Africa’s Natalie du Toit competes during the Women’s 400 metres Freestyle Final S9 category during the London 2012 Paralympic Games at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park in London.
The London Paralympics were on course to break an unprecedented number of world records as the Games hit half-way Tuesday, while Oscar Pistorius found out he will not be sanctioned for his outburst.
As yet more benchmarks tumbled in the Olympic Park, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said South African sprint star Pistorius would face no action for his trackside comments about the running blades of Brazil’s Alan Oliveira, who handed him a shock defeat on Sunday.
Around London, the wheelchair fencing got under way and the first boccia medals were handed out at the ExCeL exhibition centre, while the equestrian events came to a close with Britain topping the table at Greenwich Park with 11 medals.
Meanwhile South Africa’s swimming star Natalie du Toit claimed her 12th Paralympic gold on another busy night in the Aquatics Centre.
The IPC said the athletes at the 2012 edition were on course to break more world records than the 279 achieved in Beijing four years ago.
In the first half of the Games to Tuesday, 137 new world records were set, with a further 81 new Paralympic bests.
Some 197 medals had been won by athletes from 63 countries, in the 228 completed medal events of the 503 at the Games, with China well ahead of Great Britain, Russia and Ukraine at the top of the table.
US athlete Elexis Gillette is prepared by his guide to compete in the men’s long jump F11 final during the athletics competition at the London 2012 Paralympic Games in the Olympic Stadium in east London.
“The fact is our athletes are getting better. They’re training full-time. This is not just a hobby sport. It’s professional sport at its very best,” said IPC spokesman Craig Spence.
He also said there would be “no disciplinary action” against Pistorius after the double below-the-knee amputee hit out, claiming Oliveira and other competitors in had a much longer stride length due to “taller” carbon fibre prostheses.
Oliveira sensationally beat Pistorius in the T44 200m final.
In the pool, Du Toit got her second gold of the Games, the 28-year-old winning the 400m S9 freestyle.
“This was one of the safe races. The longer the distance, the better for me. I start getting my stride and I start pulling away,” she said.
She was one of several stars who successfully defended Beijing 2008 golds, including China’s Xu Qing, Mirjam de Koning-Peper of the Netherlands, Britain’s Heather Frederiksen and Konstantin Lisenkov of Russia.
A Chinese swimmer is seen through an underwater window during a practice session at the London 2012 Paralympic Games in the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park in east London.
Reclusive North Korea meanwhile made its maiden appearance at the Paralympics but 16-year-old swimmer Rim Ju-Song trailed in last in his S6 50m freestyle swimming heat.
“I’m very honoured to be the first Paralympian. I’m encouraged that many people cheered for me,” said the wild card.
The normally raucous 80,000-seater Olympic Stadium fell silent for the men’s F11 long jump final, in which athletes with little or no vision take off aided only by the sound of their coaches’ calls and claps.
To give the competitors the best chance of performing well, the venue descended into a rare hush.
Britain’s Prince Harry (L) talks with former British soldier and Paralympic athlete Derek Derenalagi at the Aquatics Centre during the London 2012 Paralympic Games at the Olympic Park in London.
“I have been waiting for this day for almost 10 years,” said Ukraine’s Ruslan Katyshev, who won the 2012 Games gold with a personal best of 6.46 metres.
Kovan Abdulraheem was to become the first Kurdish athlete to represent Iraq in the Paralympic Games when the 24-year-old, born with dwarfism, takes part in a discus final.
Britain’s Prince Harry, making a low-key return to public duties after naked pictures emerged of him partying in Las Vegas, watched the swimming and goalball on the Olympic Park.
In the wheelchair tennis, British flag bearer Peter Norfolk — dubbed the “quadfather” — crashed out in what he called an “appalling” shock quarter-final defeat in his bid for a third straight quad Paralympics gold.
Australia and Holland booked their places in the women’s wheelchair basketball semi-finals, while Brazil won the first boccia gold of the Games, beating the Czech Republic 5-3 in the BC4 mixed pairs.