Christchurch - The "fastest man on no legs" will race in Christchurch early next year.

According to the Stuff website, four-time Paralympic gold medallist Oscar Pistorius will compete in January's International Paralympic Committee Athletics World Championships at QEII.

The 23-year-old South African made headlines in 2007 as he tried to persuade the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to let him compete against able-bodied athletes in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Pistorius, who had both legs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old after being born without his fibula in both legs, runs on specially made carbon-fibre transtibial artificial limbs, or "blades" as he calls them.

The IAAF ruled the blades gave him an unfair advantage and stopped him competing in the Olympics, but he went on to win three golds in the Paralympics.

He is the current Paralympic champion in the 100m, 200m and 400m races for his T43 (both legs amputated below the knee) class, but his world records are all faster than the T44 class for athletes with just one leg amputated below the knee.

Pistorius said he had better perform well in New Zealand because he was doubtful his countrymen would be able to do the same later in the year at the Rugby World Cup.

"South Africa has been suffering in 2010 and New Zealand look really, really strong," he said.