Oscar Pistorius Apologises For 'Unfair' Comments Over Alan Fonteles Oliveira Paralympic 200m Gold

Is Pistorius Right To Apologise?

Oscar Pistorius has issued a speedy apology for his comments about 200m rival Alan Fonteles Oliveira in which he claimed the race was 'unfair' because of the length of the Brazilian's blades.

Pistorius was beaten into silver on the line after Oliveira appeared to be propelled forward at rapid pace by his noticeably longer blades.

The Brazilian took gold in 21.45 seconds, coming home in 21.52secs with stunned quiet from the 80,000 spectators greeting the result.

Alan Fonteles Oliveira surges past Oscar Pistorius

The South African hit out at the International Paralympic Committee for failing to act over the length of some athletes' blades after Oliveira, wearing noticeably longer ones, came from way back to pip him at the line.

In a statement released on Monday morning, Pistorious said: "I would never want to detract from another athletes' moment of triumph and I want to apologise for the timing of my comments after yesterday's race."

The statement continued: "I do believe that there is an issue here and I welcome the opportunity to discuss with the IPC but I accept that raising these concerns immediately as I stepped off the track was wrong.

"That was Alan's moment and I would like to put on record the respect I have for him.

"I am a proud Paralympian and believe in the fairness of sport. I am happy to work with the IPC who obviously share these aims.''

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