Football
Associated Press 16y

Pistorius wins at Dutch meet

EMMELOORD, Netherlands -- South African double-amputee Oscar Pistorius won the 100 and 400 meter races at the Dutch Open on Sunday as he gears up for a bid to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

Pistorius, who hopes to run the 400 at Beijing, won in 47.92 seconds at the paralympic meet, a day after coming first in the 200. Pistorius must run the 400 under 45.55 seconds to qualify for Beijing.

Pistorius later won the 100 in 11.48.

The 21-year-old won an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport on May 16 that cleared him to compete alongside able-bodied competitors running on his trademark J-shaped Cheetah blades.

After winning the 200 Saturday in 22.04 -- well off his world record best of 21.58 -- Pistorius said he was just happy to be back on the track.

"Red track, green grass and blue skies," Pistorius marveled. "Compared to the white walls of the (testing) institute or the dark woods of a courtroom, it is not the same."

Pistorius plans to participate in an able-bodied race July 2 in Milan, Italy, with possibly two more thrown in before that. The Milan race will be followed by another race in Rome on July 11 and Lucerne, Switzerland, five days later.

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