Grey-Thompson: Pistorius should not run the 400m at Olympics and Paralympics

Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson has told talkSPORT Oscar Pistorius should not compete in the 400 metres at next year’s Paralympics if he runs the event at the Olympics beforehand.

The South African has achieved the qualifying standard for the able-bodied Games, and Grey-Thompson hopes he gets the chance to fulfil his dream in London.

She told the Hawksbee & Jacobs Show: “Oscar’s been trying for a few years to qualify for the Olympics and it will be interesting to see how he copes.

“My personal view is that, if he makes the 400m Olympic team, I don’t think he should compete in the 400m at the Paralympics because it becomes a bit of a B final for the guys who didn’t compete at the Olympics.

“I’d like to see him do the 100m, 200m and the relay at the Paralympics, and the 400m at the Olympics.”

Grey-Thompson, who won 11 Paralympic gold medals, believes next summer’s Games will truly put the event on the map.

She added: “There’s been a massive development and one really important legacy of the Olympics [in London] is it will put the Paralympics on a completely different level.

“We’ve always been lucky in this country that we’ve had fairly equitable funding between Olympic and Paralympic sports and we get quite good media coverage, but this will just raise it to a different level.

“Hopefully the people who didn’t get tickets for the Olympics will think about getting tickets for the Paralympics. Most of the tickets are around £10, so it’s very affordable to watch.

“It’s the first time the host city has sold tickets for the event, there are no free tickets for the Paralympics. That shows the level we’re at and I think they’ll set the world alight.”