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The 24-year-old known as "Blade Runner" finished in a personal-best time of 45.61 during a 400-meter race in South Africa last month, giving him the "B" qualifier for worlds in Daegu, South Korea. The "A" qualifying time of 45.25 remains within his reach, under the right conditions.
Pistorius, who runs on artificial blades attached to his lower legs, hopes to receive just that push racing against Olympic gold medalist Jeremy Wariner at the Adidas Grand Prix in New York on June 11.
More than winning, though, Pistorius, wants to lower his time in his first major meet in America, especially against competition that's "a little bit daunting for me."
"I'm hungry for a quick race," Pistorius said in a teleconference on Tuesday. "I'd rather come in last in a race and run my best time than win a race and run a bad time.
"I think that might be the case in New York. Nevertheless, I'm very grateful to have a lane in the race and I'm working extremely hard."
Pistorius finished seventh in a 400 race last weekend, turning in a time of 47.40 seconds at the South African national championships in Durban and failing to reach the final.
However, his recent time of 45.61 at South Africa's Provincial Championships in Pretoria only served to heighten his hopes of competing against able-bodied athletes at this year's worlds and the 2012 Olympic Games.
"It's about 478 odd days until the Olympics. So every day I try to go to bed knowing that I've trained harder than any of my competitors," Pistorius said. "I feel like I'm in the best shape. I'll do my best and run my best."
