'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius' seven-year unbeaten run ends with photo finish defeat at World Championships

By Sportsmail Reporter
Updated: 10:21 EST, 26 January 2011

Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius lost a 100m paralympic race for the first time in seven years on Wednesday, coming in second at the world championships in a photo finish.

Jerome Singleton, a 24-year-old single-leg amputee from the United States, ended the South African's streak when both finished in 11.34 seconds but won in the photo finish at the International Paralympic Committee Athletics World Championships.

End of the road: Jerome Singleton (left) beats Oscar Pistorius (second right) into second place at the IPC Athletics Championships in New Zealand

End of the road: Jerome Singleton (left) beats Oscar Pistorius (second right) into second place at the IPC Athletics Championships in New Zealand

'This is an unbelievably great feeling,' said Singleton, the first American male to win gold in the 100 at the worlds or Paralympic Games since 2004. 'It's been a long time coming for the U.S. to reclaim the gold in this event and I'm blessed to add my name to the greats who have come before me.'

Pistorius, nicknamed 'Blade Runner' because of his prosthetic racing blades, beat Singleton by 0.3 seconds to win the gold medal at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing.

'There isn't much of a rivalry there if it's one-sided,' Singleton said. 'I've been working to bring the gold home to the U.S. and now this motivates me even more to do it again in London in 2012.'


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