Thursday 9 August 2012

South Africa and Pistorius Earn Reprieve


Double amputee Oscar Pistorius's historic Olympic campaign gained a reprieve as South Africa were given a place in Saturday's 4x400m relay final on appeal.

Pistorius, 25, thought his adventure had come to an end when second-leg runner Ofentse Mogawane fell on the bend into the home straight after tangling with Kenya's Vincent Kiilu.

However, Kenya were subsequently disqualified, prompting South Africa to appeal.

"The Jury of Appeal met and agreed to advance the South African team to the final, even though they did not finish the race, considering that they had been severely damaged in the incident with Kenya," said the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in a statement.

"South Africa will run as an additional team in lane nine."

Before the appeal had succeeded, Pistorius said: "I was standing there and I took my eyes off the screen and kept them on the straight and obviously just as I took them off it must have happened.

"He's not the biggest of guys and initially I thought he was maybe pushed in behind someone and then I just carried on looking and he didn't come out.

"It's really tough at the moment. I feel sorry for my team-mates, they're a phenomenal group of guys.

"It's just really disappointing for us because we came off a second place at the world champs last year and a national record and we've got more or less the same team."







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