Oscar Pistorius allowed to run in Olympic relay after appeal

Oscar Pistorius has a chance of a historic Olympic medal after the South African team were granted a place in the 4x400m final on appeal. 

His team-mate Ofentse Mogawane had crashed out during the second relay heat as Pistorius waited for the baton.

Pistorius, nicknamed "Blade Runner" because of his prosthetic legs, made history in the 400m as the first amputee sprinter at the Olympics.

He said on Twitter:  "Thank you Lord. Emotional rollercoaster."

Mogawane collided with Kenya's Vincent Kiilu around the top bend and was sent sprawling to the track.

After assessing the appeal, the International Association of Athletics Federations decided he had been blocked and advanced the South Africans through to Friday's final (2123 BST). 

The Kenyan team were disqualified and South Africa were added to the final in lane nine, with LJ van Zyl replacing Mogawane, who has a shoulder injury, in the quartet.

Jamaica went out of the relay in the other heat as Germaine Gonzales pulled up with a hamstring injury, ending any chance that double Olympic 100m and defending 200m champion Usain Bolt might de drafted into their team for the final.

The South African relay team were silver medallists at the World Championships last year although Pistorius was not selected for the final.

A four-time Paralympic champion, his legs were amputated below the knee when he was a baby.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport cleared him to compete against able-bodied athletes in 2008.
He was second in his Olympic 400m heat before finishing eighth in his semi-final.

The Bahamas and the United States were the fastest 4x400m qualifiers after being given the same time of two minutes 58.87 seconds in heat two, ahead of Trinidad and Tobago and Great Britain who were also given the same time of 3:00.38 in heat one.

Venezuela went through after a successful appeal against their disqualification for allegedly impeding the Australian team during a takeover.

bbc