Oscar fails in 400m final bid

The controversial South African 'Blade Runner', who runs with carbon fibre prosthetic running blades and was making history as the first amputee to compete at the worlds, finished last in his semi-final.

Pistorius received a huge cheer from the South Korean crowd and mouthed 'thank you' to the camera as he lined up to race but could not find the pace he needed, timing 46.19sec to finish 22nd out of 24 runners in the semi-finals.

But it was a different story for Merritt, who appeared in awesome form in qualifying quickest in 44.76sec, with what seemed to be plenty in reserve.

Also through to Tuesday's final are Belgian twins Jonathan and Kevin Borlee, Grenadan pair Kirani James and Rondell Bartholomew, Tabarie Henry of the US Virgin Islands, Jamaica's Jermaine Gonzales and Nigeria-born Femi Ogunode of Qatar.