The Herald : News

Golden boy takes fame in his stride

By Larry Lombaard

Athens – TWO Paralympic volunteers, both young Athenean beauties, collared Oscar Pistorius for autographs shortly after his phenomenal 200m world record at the Olympic Stadium on Tuesday night.

They stared starry-eyed as Oscar, his time now over with the television and print media in the international zone, requested in a kind manner that they write their names on a scrap piece of paper so that he could get it just right in their autograph books. His hands were still shaking from the adrenaline that stoked up his awesome performance, but he wrote their names, followed by a message and his name with intimate care for these two very first autograph-hunters of his life. He’s that kind of guy, happy and well-mannered, this 17-year-old.

He could have been an Olympian sitting on a plastic chair signing those autographs. Chiseled face, strong neck, superbly cut shoulder and arm muscles, abs that could have been set in concrete and a pair of long well defined thighs. But young Oscar was not destined to be an Olympian, because he was born with no bone below his knees. His disability origin in Paralympian talk is symes amputation, double below the knees.

From the knees down those racing prosthetics – blades, they call them – gave the scene a surreal touch. When you first see amputee sprinters in action, it looks like the bent blades of car springs blurring over the ground where feet in racing spikes should be. Now they were stationary, propping up his knees as he tenderly wrote his message in the autograph books for these young beauties.

“You like him?” a hack asked them.

“Oh yes,” gushed one in a strong Greek accent. “He is very handsome, and very fast.”

“He has a nice smile,” said the other, “and nice blue eyes.” There are still the 100m heats today with the final tomorrow, but Oscar’s 200m world record remains the high point of athletics at the Paralympics so far.

Brian Frasure, the American whose world record Oscar broke when he flew across the line in 21,97sec, and who had dominated single leg amputee sprinting for 11 years, was overwhelmed by the youngster’s talent.

“Oscar is a phenomenal athlete,” he said. “There are not many able-bodied athletes who can break 22 seconds. What he did out there was good for a sub-11sec 100m. Absolutely amazing.” More amazingly, Oscar, a Grade 11 pupil at Pretoria Boys High, only started serious sprinting in January. Before that, he was a rugby player. Fanie Lombaard, the veteran Paralympian who won the discus and shot put gold in Athens, talent-spotted the youngster two years ago when he saw Oscar in rugby action for his school one Saturday morning. “I’ve given rugby up now,” said Oscar.

“I really loved the running and the tackling and roughing it up. I played inside centre wearing a pair of normal prostheses. My opposition gave me no quarter. Once, I was tackled so hard, my one leg came off. They waited while I put it back on and went on with the game.

“Fanie spoke to me and helped me get a better pair of competition prostheses. He also said I should take up sprinting.” Oscar got his running career off over the middle distances with a 41 minute 10km personal best. He shortened his distances down with quality and speed.

There was one problem, however. As he worked on his power in the gym, so he added stress to his competition blades, which kept breaking on the 200m bend. With the Paralympics drawing closer, he went for the best and visited Frasure at his home in North Carolina in July and the former world record holder made the racing prosthetics that Oscar used to break the American’s world mark of 22,71sec on Tuesday night.

“Now it’s going to be a thrill to sit in the stands and watch this young man fly. He’s going to get faster and faster. He’s phenomenal. And the prosthesis I made for him did great work. Oscar has missed three months of school during his Paralympic preparations this year and he brought his schoolbooks to Athens to study for exams when he gets back home. Asked if he got much studying done, he just laughed.

“I’ve received great support from back home,” he said. “The guys in my hostel gave me a banner which I’ve put in my room at the Athlete’s Village and I’ve received all kinds of emails and cards, before and after winning my medal.” Oscar’s father Henke, who sat in the stands on Tuesday, said his heart felt as though it was going to explode with pride when his son won gold.

Young Oscar loves to paint and his sporting hero is sprinter Maurice Greene. His sporting philosophy? “Live life on the edge, otherwise you are wasting space.” Life on the edge? You bet. But one thing’s for sure, there’s no waste in the space occupied by young Oscar Pistorius.

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