World Athletics 2011: Oscar Pistorius in South Africa squad
Baku, August 8 (AZERTAC). Oscar Pistorius will become the first amputee athlete to compete at the able-bodied World Championships, after being named in South Africa`s squad.
The 24-year-old double-amputee, who competes on carbon fibre legs, will race in the 400m and 4x400m relay
The event begins in Daegu, South Korea on 27 August.
Women`s 800m world champion Caster Semenya, who was cleared to run last year after an 11-month lay-off because of gender tests, is also in the squad.
Pistorius said: "I have dreamt for such a long time of competing in a major championships and this is a very proud moment in my life.
"It will be a great day for me when I set out on the track in Daegu and I hope to do my country proud.
"This will be the highest-profile and most prestigious able-bodied event which I have ever competed in, and I will face the highest-calibre of athletes from across the planet."
An International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) ban was overturned in 2008, allowing Pistorius to compete against able-bodied athletes.
The IAAF`s ruling that his "blades" gave him an unfair advantage was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Pistorius clocked a personal best time of 45.07 seconds in Italy last month to qualify just inside the cut-off time.
"If I manage to make it through the heats, I would be thrilled," he added.
"A good performance for me would be to be consistent through the heats. If I ran anywhere close to my PB, I would be delighted."
Semenya, 20, will return to the event where she sprang to prominence in 2009, winning the 800m in Berlin in the year`s fastest time.
She has struggled with a back injury following the lay-off, after which she was cleared to continue competing.
The chairman of Athletics South Africa, James Evans, said: "We selected all those athletes who fulfilled the qualification criteria.
"With 11 athletes competing for the first time at this level we are very clearly looking to 2012 and beyond."
Men`s 800m world champion Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, 400m hurdler LJ van Zyl and Olympic and world long jump silver-medallist Khotso Mokoena were also named in the 26-strong squad.
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