[by Brandon Wiggins]

When Oscar Pistorius was born with fibular hemimelia — defective leg bones — his parents faced a difficult decision. They could have doctors amputate both of Oscar’s legs below his knees or have him spend his life in a wheelchair. His parents took a chance and opted for the surgery, hoping Oscar could learn to walk with prosthetics.

Oscar adapted to his prosthetics and became an active athlete, with a particular passion for water polo and rugby. But, after he shattered his knee playing rugby in June 2003, he took up track running to aid his rehabilitation, and he has been a track runner ever since. The following summer at the Athens Paralympics, at the age of 17, Oscar won the T44 200-meter gold medal and set a new world record in the process.

Despite his success in the Paralympics, Oscar always dreamed of competing alongside able-bodied athletes in the Summer Olympics. Unfortunately, in January 2008 the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the world governing body for track and field, ruled that Oscar’s prosthetics gave him an unfair advantage and banned him from able-bodied competition.

Undeterred as always, Oscar underwent further testing to prove his prosthetics offered no unfair advantages, and in May 2008 the ruling was reversed. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Oscar achieved his dream and raced for South Africa in the Men’s 400-meter and Men’s 4×400-meter relay. He also carried the South African flag in the closing ceremony and went on to win two gold medals and a silver medal in the 2012 Summer Paralympics.

In 2007 Oscar told The Daily Telegraph that his sporting motto is, “You’re not disabled by the disabilities you have, you are able by the abilities you have.”