amputee runner Oscar Pistorius was selected by South Africa's athletics federation Monday to compete in this month's World Championships. Pistorius is set to become the first amputee athlete to compete at the able-bodied worlds after being chosen to represent South Africa in Daegu, South Korea, as its only runner in the 400 meters. He was also chosen for the 4x400 relay. The 24-year-old Pistorius was named in a group of 26 athletes by Athletics South Africa after he smashed his personal best last month at a meet in northern Italy to make the qualifying time for the worlds and next year's London Olympics. Women's 800-meter world champion Caster Semenya was also included and will defend the title she won in 2009 amid a storm of controversy over gender tests. Eleven of South Africa's athletes will be going to their first-ever world championships, including Pistorius, who had to take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to be allowed to compete in able-bodied events on his carbon fiber blades. The International Association of Athletics Federations had banned the multiple Paralympic gold medal winner from able-bodied competition, saying the blades gave him an unfair advantage. Pistorius was cleared to compete in 2008, but failed to qualify for that year's Beijing Olympics and the 2009 worlds in Berlin. But, needing to run 45.25 seconds to make this year's world championships, Pistorius clocked 45.07 last month in Lignano, Italy, his final race before the qualifying cutoff — having never run faster than 45.61 before. “We selected all those athletes who fulfilled the qualification criteria,” new ASA President James Evans said. “With 11 athletes competing for the first time at this level we are very clearly looking to 2012 and beyond.” The World Championships run Aug. 27 to Sept. 4. Semenya was cleared to run last year after an 11-month layoff because of the gender tests, but has had an erratic buildup to her title defense. She struggled with a back injury and then failed to reproduce the devastating pace she showed to win the 800 as an 18-year-old two years ago. Men's 800 world champion Mbulaeni Mulaudzi and 400-meter hurdler LJ van Zyl were also named to the team, as was Khotso Mokoena, the 2008 Olympic and 2009 world silver-medalist in the long jump.
