JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee sprinter, said on Monday the next two months would be the hardest of his life as he attempts to qualify for the Beijing Olympics in August.
Pistorius, who arrived home in South Africa on Monday, was cleared to run against the able-bodied after the Court of Arbitration (CAS) for Sport on Friday overturned an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ban on him competing against able-bodied athletes.
The CAS unanimously ruled that Pistorius did not gain an advantage from his carbon fibre prosthetics and revoked the ban with immediate effect.
Pistorius admitted it would be difficult to make the 45.55 second qualifying time for the 400 metres in Beijing as he had not been focused on training while preparing to present his case to the CAS. His personal best time is 46.33 seconds.
"Realistically speaking I've probably got a better chance of qualifying for the 2012 Olympics," said Pistorius, who was fitted with his prosthetics when he was only 11 months old after a congenital disorder forced him to undergo the amputations.
"In order to qualify for 2008 I'm going to go full steam ahead. I'm going to try anyway. I've got two months to qualify and I think they'll be the hardest two months of my life.
"I need to be quicker than one second from my PB (personal best) time and I'm not even sure I'm running close to my PB at the moment. People say there's a lot of pressure on me, but it's a nice pressure.
"The court case was a very negative time and a different kind of pressure. The last five months have been hectic and so tiring, travelling back and forth to America for testing and dealing with all the negative things that have been said and written about the prosthetic legs."
Pistorius will travel to the Netherlands on May 28 to run in five Paralympic qualifying events, and then will take part in able-bodied athletics meets in Milan, Rome and Lucerne in July.
He also received an invitation from the organisers of the June 1 Berlin Golden League meet.
"We want to help him reach his goal and attain the Olympic minimum," Gerhard Janetzky said on Monday, adding that the runner could be up against world and Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner, a fixture on the Golden League circuit.
Pistorius could earn a provisional spot at the Beijing Olympics if he runs the 400m in 45.95 seconds. There is also the possibility that he could be given a spot on the South African 400 metre relay team at the Olympics.
"The relay team is a possibility, but we need to be in the top 16 in the world," said Pistorius.
"The South African season is over so it would be a case of getting the team together and competing in European events. My training buddies have been calling me up and giving me support. (South African 400 metre runner) LJ van Zyl called me up and told me that we have to go full out now.
"My dream is to make the Olympics. There's a lot of hard work ahead."
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