Fourie beats Pistorius by a hair

Reuters

Britain's Jonnie Peacock (centre) wins the men's 100m T44 final ahead of South Africa's Arnu Fourie (left) and Richard Browne of the United States (right) at the Paralympic Games in London.

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London - Britain's Jonnie Peacock on Thursday sprinted to glory in the Paralympics' showpiece final, stripping “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius of another title with a lightning-quick 100m.

The 19-year-old, who holds the world record of 10.85sec in the straight sprint, again proved he is the fastest amputee runner in the world by taking gold at the Olympic Stadium in London in 10.90sec.

South African Pistorius, 25, was just out of the medals in fourth, clocking 11.17sec behind compatriot Arnu Fourie, who took bronze in 11.08sec and US sprinter Richard Browne, who won silver in 11.03sec.

Organisers had billed the T44 race for single and double below-the-knee amputees as the race of the Games, predicting that all eight finalists could go under 11sec for the first time.

Peacock, a single leg amputee trained by Dan Pfaff who coached Canada's Donovan Bailey to Olympic 100m glory in 1996, signalled his intent in Thursday's heats by equalling the Paralympic record of 11.08sec.

Pistorius, the T44 100m, 200m and 400m champion in Beijing, had warned that he was not favourite for the straight sprint, as he was a one-lap specialist.

The Games' most high-profile athlete, who became the first double-amputee to run in the Olympics last month, had been keen to let his running do the talking after becoming embroiled in a row over artificial blade length.

After sensationally losing his T44 200m title to Brazil's Alan Oliveira on Sunday, Pistorius said he was at a disadvantage in terms of stride length as his rivals were “a lot taller”.

The row about whether his rivals had illegally flouted rules governing the maximum allowed height of prostheses has rumbled on all week, although the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has said there were no violations.

Pistorius gained a measure of revenge over Oliveira on Thursday, as he anchored South Africa to a world record-breaking victory in the T42-46 4x100m relay for single and double below-the-knee amputees and upper limb amputees. - Sapa-AFP