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Missed by a whisker

SOUTH AFRICAN double amputee Oscar Pistorius saw his hopes of taking part in the Beijing Olympics suffer another setback on Friday when he finished a long way outside the qualifying time.

Pistorius, who is bidding to make history by competing against able-bodied runners at the Games, clocked 46.62sec to finish in seventh place in the 400m B race at the Golden League meeting here, more than a second outside the 45.55sec qualifying standard.

The 21-year-old, however, improved on his season-best time of 47.78sec, which he set in Milan last week. His best ever performance remains 46.34.

Pistorius already holds the world records for the 100m, 200m and 400m Paralympic events, and is nicknamed the "Blade Runner" because of his J-shaped carbon fibre prosthetic lower legs.

A legal battle that ended in May when the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned a ban on him competing with able-bodied athletes cost Pistorius precious training time.

Pistorius has already said that his ambition is to take part at the 2012 Olympics in London when he will only be 25.