South Africa's 'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius lit up the final evening of Paralympic athletics with a storming victory in the 400 metres to claim his third gold medal of the Beijing Games.
The 21-year-old double amputee had wanted to run the one-lap race at last month's Olympics but, despite winning a legal battle with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), failed to achieve the qualifying time.
Having already won the 100m and 200m finals in his disability class, Pistorius sprinted home 10 metres clear of the field in a world record time of 47.49 seconds on a rainy night at the Bird's Nest.
"I didn't feel so good coming out tonight so I'm extremely happy with the race. It was the last race of the Paralympics," he told reporters.
"Three gold medals and a world record is a dream come true, it is the most memorable competition of my life. I've had such a good time, the crowd's been so passionate.
"I'm aiming to do both (the Olympics and Paralympics) in London."
Pistorius, who had both legs removed between the knee and ankle as a baby and uses a pair of carbon-fibre prosthetics to run, began competing against able-bodied athletes in 2007.
The governing IAAF banned him in January after ruling that his artificial limbs gave him an unfair advantage.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) lifted the ban in May and although he missed out on Beijing, he is now focusing on taking on the world's best 400m runners at the London Games in 2012, and perhaps even before that.
"I will work harder," he said. "Next season is really a big one ... I will try to run a qualifying time for the world championships in Berlin."
The Beijing Paralympics close on Wednesday.
