World Athletics 2011: Grey-Thompson questions Pistorius run
Last updated on .From the section Athletics
Former Paralympic champion Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson has warned of the future implications of Oscar Pistorius taking part in the World Athletics Championships in South Korea.
The South African double amputee made history in Daegu by becoming the first amputee to compete at the able-bodied worlds, and has reached the semi-finals.
Grey-Thompson, an 11-time Paralympic champion, says she does not have a problem with Pistorius competing at the World Championships or Olympic Games.
"But," she points out, "If he makes the Olympics, then his 400m event should not be run at the Paralympics because the Paralympics should never be a B final."
In May 2008, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) overturned a ruling by athletics' governing body the IAAF that the 24-year-old's prosthetic limbs gave him an unfair advantage.
Although he failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics, he went on to win three gold medals at the Paralympics and has set his sights on competing in both the Olympics and Paralympics in London next year.
This year, he has lowered his personal best to 45.07 seconds, and on Sunday finished third in his heat in 45.39 and will compete in Monday's semi-finals before taking part in the 4x400m relay.
Looking ahead to London 2012, Grey-Thompson added: "Everything we have been trying to fight against in moving the Paralympics on to be equal to the Olympics would be knocked back if Oscar then competes in the 400m a few weeks later at the Paralympics [after racing at the Olympics].
"That race becomes the event for people who weren't good enough to compete at the Olympics."
