Paralympics: Smyth challenging Pistorius as track king
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LONDON (AFP) - Ireland's Jason Smyth has staked his claim to challenge "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius as king of the track at the Paralympics by lowering the new world best in the T13 100m to 10.54secs.
The 25-year-old, who like Pistorius competes in non-disabled races, narrowly missed out on a berth in the Ireland Olympic team by four hundredths of a second but showed his outstanding class late on Friday by romping home in the heats.
Northern Ireland-born Smyth, who is visually impaired, is based in Florida and trains with United States (US) sprint star Tyson Gay, who is the second fastest man ever over the 100m behind Jamaica's Usain Bolt.
Gay, the former double world champion at 100m and 200m was a member of his country's 4x100m relay team that won silver at the Olympics earlier this month.
