Blade runner Oscar Pistorius sets new world record in 400m

From BBC News:

South African star Oscar Pistorius (pictured) set a new world record in winning the 400m disability race at the Diamond League meeting in London.

The double amputee clocked a time of 47.04 seconds at Crystal Palace to finish well clear of Britain's Ian Jones, whose time was 51.65 sec.

It beat the 47.49 Pistorius set to take Paralympic gold in Beijing in 2008.

It was slower than the 46.93 he ran in Friday's able-bodied race but that time was not eligible for the record.

Paralympic world records can generally only be ratified at events sanctioned by the International Paralympic Committee and Friday's race did not fall under that category.

The time was well short of the 45.95 sec standard that South Africa Athletics have set for the 23-year-old to qualify to run against able-bodied competitors in October's Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

He ran a lifetime best of 46.02 seconds in Italy last month - just 0.07 seconds short of the qualifying standards - and is the second fastest South African in the current rankings.

The Commonwealth Games Federation do not have minimum qualifying standards so Pistorius remains hopeful that he could compete in Delhi but he says his coach will have the final decision on whether he runs or not with the team due to be announced on 25 August.

"A world record is always a good thing to finish the season off on," the four-time Paralympic gold medallist told BBC Sport .

"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.

"I learned a lot from Friday's race where the rainy conditions were not what I am used to."