Because of this, he was able to realize his dreams and was a South African representative at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, where he marked his place before being eliminated in the semifinals. Oscar appealed this decision, and it was overturned a year later. In 2007, however, the International Association of Athletic Foundations (IAAF) concluded that his prosthetics gave him an unfair advantage and banned him from competing with those who were not disabled like him. Oscar’s success in Athens led him to compete against able-bodied runners all over South Africa in national races as well, which then led him to receive invites from the European track and field circuit. It was just two years later that he won his first gold medal in the 200-meter race at the 2004 Athens Paralympics. At 16, Oscar took up running to rehabilitate his knee, which he injured playing rugby, and the rest was history. From cricket to rugby to wrestling, he did it all. And, as he grew up and fell in love with sports, he never let his physical condition hold him back. By the time he was 18 months old, he was comfortably walking on prosthetic legs. Therefore, before he turned a year old, so as to live a long and relatively healthier life, both of his legs were amputated halfway between his knees and ankles.
On November 22, 1986, Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius was born missing the outside of both feet and both fibulae because of a condition called fibular hemimelia. Who Is Oscar Pistorius? Image Credit: NBC News / Dateline