My parents didn't give me any scope to feel sorry for myself. They were just like 'go play with your brother, go climb a tree, go fall off your motorbike, do whatever you want. Don't come crying to us when you get scratched. You've got prosthetic legs - that's very nice.'

Botha also said the trajectory of the gunshots indicated that they had been fired downward and directly toward the toilet. 97 seconds besting a pair of American runners both possessing a single amputation Marlon Shirley and Brian Frasure. However he said: "If I make the team I don't want to be the reserve for the relay I want to be in the top four.

Although both of Pistorius' legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old he competes in events for single below-knee amputees and for able-bodied athletes. He also took a silver in the 200 metres race having set a world record in the semifinal.