Amputee Pistorius fails in Olympic qualifying bid

Double amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius failed in his final attempt to qualify for the 400 metres race at next month's Beijing Olympics.

Needing a time of 45.55 seconds to qualify for Beijing, Pistorius, 21, finished third at the Spitzen Leichtathletik meeting in Lucerne last night with a personal best time of 46.25 seconds.

The South African athlete, who could still be selected for his country's 4x100 metre relay squad, was banned from competing in January by athletics' governing body the IAAF.

The IAAF had argued that the carbon fibre blades he runs on gave Pistorius an advantage over able-bodied athletes.

Pistorius succeeded in having the ban overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport which criticised the tests carried out by the IAAF to measure the runner's performance levels.