The Blade Runner’s time was actually even slower than the 46.93 he ran in last night's able-bodied race 400m at Crystal Palace but that time, as well as the 46.03 personal best he set at a meeting in Lignano in Italy last month, was not eligible for the record as Paralympic world records can generally only be ratified at events sanctioned by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). 

However, the time was better than the 47.49 the South African set to take gold at the Beijing 2008 Paralympics and therefore meant he broke his own record.

Pistorius finished well ahead of Britain’s Ian Jones, who was second in a season’s best of 51.65, while marathon specialist Richard Whitehead from Nottingham was third in 59.52.

Pistorius said: "A world record is always a good thing to finish the [European] season off on.

"This has been an amazing event for me and it will be so special to have the Paralympics in London in two years time.

"The crowd was phenomenal."

Pistorius added that the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi this October remain in his thoughts.

The four-time Paralympic gold medallist has not yet made the 45.95 standard that Athletics South Africa have set for the 23-year-old to qualify to run against able-bodied competitors at the Games but the personal best he ran last month means that Pistorius is second fastest South African in the current rankings.

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) do not have minimum qualifying standards so Pistorius could still compete in Delhi maintains that his coach, Ampie Louw, will have the final decision on whether he runs or not with the team due to be announced on August 25 

Pistorius said: "Yeah he (Louw) is going to make a decision.

"I’ve been in Europe since the BT Paralympic World Cup in May so it’s been a long season.

"I’d love to go, I’ve got the second quickest time in the 400 for South Africa at the moment so I’m just going to listen to him and see what he says."

In the other Paralympic race on the final day of the Crystal Palace Grand Prix, Britain’s Libby Clegg claimed a fantastic victory in the women’s 100m T12/T14 event with a season’s best of 12.72.

Clegg, who won gold at the 2010 BT Paralympic World Cup, finished ahead of double Paralympic gold medallist April Holmes of the United States while Britain’s Stephanie Reid finished third. 

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
August 2010: Pistorius targets fast time at Crystal Palace
July 2010: Pistorius personal best takes him step closer to London 2012 target
May 2010: Oscar is the class act at BT Paralympic World Cup
May 2010: Paralympics is not second-grade version of able-bodied sports claims Pistorius
May 2010: Pisotrius to make debut at Crystal Palace