Oscar Pistorius makes history

Image: Dan Sung

We are now a week into the London 2012 Olympic Games and I think most will agree, it has been somewhat of a spectacle thus far, from the opening ceremony to out in the streets for the road races.

Unsurprisingly, China have topped the medal table since day one; their wealth of talent in what seems every Olympic sport is somewhat enviable, but that hasn’t dampened the spirits of the home nation.

Last night, Great Britain’s woman’s football team took on the Canadian team in the quarter-finals of the football tournament and despite losing 2-0, the support for the team was absolutely stunning. A near sold-out City of Coventry Stadium (as it is to be known for the duration of the Games) never quietened, and updates on the big screen notifying the crowd of a gold medal for Victoria Pendleton raised the volume even more.

But perhaps one of the most defining moments of the 2012 Games so far, was not that of Bradley Wiggins following up his historic Tour de France win with an Olympic Gold medal in the time trial, or that of Victoria Pendleton & Jess Varnish being disqualified in the cycling; but that of 25 year old Oscar Pistorius, who today became the first amputee (double) to compete in the Olympic Games.

For it is athletes like that of ‘Blade Runner’ as he is affectionately known, that truly optimise the motto of the London 2012 games; “Inspire a generation.”

Born with a rare disease that stopped his fibulas developing, the South African is mixing up with the world’s best and rightly so. Whilst there has been plenty of debate about whether his prosthetics would give him an advantage over his opponents, it is only right that if Pistorius can compete with the best; he should.

Oscar Pistorius, I salute you.

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