Double amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius of South Africa won his second gold medal at the Paralympic Games on Saturday, while top American swimmer Erin Popovich missed a chance to finish with six golds. Pistorius, who runs on prosthetic legs, won the 200 meters with a time of 21.67. He pulled away down the stretch, beating second-place finisher Jim Bob Bizzell of the US by nearly a second. “This race is definitely going down as one of my best ever races. I've never run in front of a crowd this big and just the crowd, the athletes, it was an awesome race and I couldn't have hoped for anything better,” he said. The 21-year-old Pistorius already won gold in the 100m and was looking ahead to the 400m, where he is a strong favorite. “It's just a different distance, but I will still be myself,” Pistorius said of Tuesday's race. Popovich, who has already won four gold medals in Beijing, was seeking another top finish in the 50 meter butterfly on Saturday. But China's Huang Min beat Popovich by nearly 3-1/2 seconds as she went on to set a world record with a time of 34.47. Popovich, who is a dwarf, won seven gold medals at the Athens Paralympics but was limited to six events this time after a relay was cut from the program. She also won three golds and three silvers as a 15-year-old competing in Sydney in 2000. Popovich's last race, the 50 meters freestyle, is scheduled for Sunday. In wheelchair basketball, Iran forfeited its quarterfinal against the United States and avoided a possible game against Israel by withdrawing from the tournament. Iranian officials denied the move was politically motivated, although Iran and the United States have no diplomatic relations and the US government has led efforts to challenge Iran's nuclear program. The winner of the US-Iran match would have gone on to meet the winner of Israel-Canada. Iran does not recognize Israel and bans any official contact with the Jewish state. Canada eventually beat Israel. Iran said its forfeit was prompted by a change in scheduling. The US-Iran match was originally scheduled to be played at 11:15 A.M., following the first quarterfinal between Canada and Israel at 9 A.M. But the starting times were switched, with no official announcement to explain why the change was made. “Each match should be done one after another,” said Iran's deputy chef de mission Iran Doust. “But unfortunately, concerning our match they didn't observe the order and that's the reason (for pulling out).” Host China pulled away in the medal tally with 130 overall, including 49 golds. Ten of those gold medals came Saturday in athletics and swimming. Great Britain was second with 82 medals overall, including 38 golds. The United States was third with 66 overall, 26 gold. - AP __
