Athletics
Pistorius coasting in the wet
2011-03-29 17:04
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Rustenburg - Double amputee Oscar Pistorius won the 200m at the Nedbank National Championships for the Physically Disabled in wet conditions on Tuesday.
Pistorius crossed the line in 22.17 seconds at the Olympia Park Stadium while Arnu Fourie was a distant second in 23.74 seconds.
"I'll be running the 400 metres, so I hope the weather breaks," said Pistorius.
"This is a great track when it's dry and we're at altitude, so I'm looking for a good race."
Last week Pistorius finished within a whisker of the A-qualifying time in the 400 metres for the Olympics. A solid performance at the National Championships would boost his confidence to get to that magic number.
"I ran the 400 metres in 45.61 seconds, so I'm actually just six hundredths of a second off the A-qualifying time," he explained. "I would like to break that barrier before I go to the able-bodied World Championships in South Korea later this year."
Ilze Hayes collected her second gold in the T13 class in the 200m.
The double world champion is nursing an Achilles tendon injury that has forced her out of the long jump competition. Hayes couldn't run full out and although she still comfortably ran the qualifying standard, her time of 26.98 second was well below the 25.54 that yielded a bronze medal at the World Championships in January.
World Championship silver medallist Fanie van der Merwe, ran 12.08 in the 100m on Monday, and won his second gold in the T37 class with a 24.35 second run in the 200 metres.