Pistorius outsprints Flores in100m

Malta sprinter Antonio Flores just missed out on setting a new seasonal best time yesterday when he took part in the 100m-T44 heats at the Paralympic Games in Beijing.

The Pembroke athlete took the starting blocks of the second heat at the National Stadium in a race also featuring event favourite Oscar Pistorius, of South Africa. Flores, 18, dashed home fifth in 12.71 seconds, just 0.02 seconds outside his best performance of 2007/08 - 12.69.

Pistorius, dubbed the 'Blade Runner' because of the prosthetic legs that enable him to sprint, won the heat in a Paralympics record of 11.16. Jerome Singleton (US) was second in 11.48 ahead of Swiss Christoph Bausch (12.03).

The other athlete to make it to the final was Heros Marai, of Italy. He was fourth in 12.05. Cambodia's Vanna Kim finished behind Flores in the six-man heat in 13.45 seconds.

There were 12 athletes who took part in the 100m-T44 heats with Flores placing 11th overall.