APCOM

Oscar Pistorius' run starts again from Milano. From here, the South African double-amputee sprinter commented on the positive outcome of his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas), which has finally allowed him to compete for a place in the Beijing Olympics. In January 2008, the dream of the 21 year-old was broken into pieces by the IAAF. The athletics' governing body banned him from able-bodied events after discovering that his prosthetic limbs gave him a "demonstrable mechanical advantage." According to the Cas, it's not been proved that competition rules have been contravened, so Pistorius has the right to fight for the qualification.

It was in a Milanese hotel that the first press conference after the Cas' announcement took place. Pistorius was obviously thrilled. "This is a very important day for me and for all the Paralympics athletes, who train and commit themselves every day as much as any other athletes." In Italy the young South African found that extra support he needed to go on believing in his aim: "I managed to bear the pressure also thanks to my fans' support and here I felt the greatest affection and backing." Now he has to make the Olympic 'A' standard time of 45.55 seconds for the 400m or the 'B' qualifier of 45.95 if no other sprinter from his country achieves the higher one.

His quest to qualify and fly to Asia next August will be passing through Italy again: "I'm sure I'll take part in Milano's night meeting on July 2nd and in Roma's Golden League Gala on the 11th, then the third attempt might be in Lucerne." What if he doesn't manage to participate in this edition of the Olympics? "I'll try again for London 2012," replied Pistorius, who is otherwise ready to compete in the Paralympics, where he would defend his title in the 200m and his world records on 100m and 400m as well. "After all, the most important thing in sports is not simply to win, but to go on improving."