Oscar Pistorius came to fame as a 17-year-old when he won gold in the T44 200m at the 2004 Athens Paralympics and has gone on to be one of the best-known figures in Paralympic sport. The South African was born without the fibulas in both of his legs, which were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old. Pistorius was just 15 when he suffered the loss of his his mother, who died from an allergic reaction to treatment for suspected malaria. She would later prove an inspiration to her son in his sporting career, which began not on the track but on the rugby field. It was a rugby injury that led him to take up athletics in 2003, and a matter of months later he made his Paralympic debut, running on prosthetic blades, known as cheetah blades, and earning himself the nickname "Blade Runner". The boy with frizzy hair and braces created a stir, beating his more experienced single amputee rivals to gold in the 200m at the Athens Games and also taking bronze in the 100m. He proved he was a force to be reckoned with in disability sport when he won three more golds in his next major international outing, the 2006 IPC World Championships in Assen, Holland. He also set a new world record over 200m. Pistorius expressed his intention to run at the Olympics and by 2007 was competing internationally against able-bodied runners. His participation was not universally welcomed, though, with some claiming he gained an unfair advantage because of the blades. The IAAF, the body that governs athletics, was concerned enough to conduct research and eventually banned him from able-bodied competition in January 2008. Pistorius, awarded the Helen Rollason Award for courage at the 2007 BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards, disagreed with the verdict and went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) to fight his case. After lengthy scientific tests, the ban was overturned in May 2008. The suspension was lifted too late for Pistorius to compete at the Beijing Olympics but he made his mark at the Paralympics that year, winning golds and setting new Paralympics records in the T44 100m and 200m as well as a world record in the 400m. The following year, he suffered head and facial injuries in a speedboat accident in South Africa and missed out on a place at the World Championships in Berlin. At the 2011 IPC World Championships in New Zealand, Pistorius suffered his first defeat over 100m since 2004 when he was beaten in a thrilling photo-finish by American Jerome Singleton. However, the South African was in superb form later that year, setting a new personal best of 45.07 seconds in Italy and gaining selection for the 2011 World Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea. He reached the 400m semi-finals and also took part in a preliminary round of the 4x400m relay. South Africa eventually took bronze in that event without the help of Pistorius, who was not selected for the final. In 2012, he earned a place on the South African Olympic team and became the first double amputee to compete at the Games, running in the 400m. He made it all the way to the semi-finals, missing out on a new personal best but swapping race numbers with world champion Kirani James, and competed in the final of the 4x400m relay. He was also asked to carry the South African flag at the closing ceremony. Pistorius was one of the faces of the London Paralympics and was featured in a number of advertising campaigns ahead of the showpiece event. His sponsorship deals, including one with sportswear manufacturer Nike, are thought to be worth £1.3m a year. He won two golds and a silver at the Games but was also involved in one of the main controversies of London 2012. After being beaten by Brazil's Alan Oliveira in the T44 200m final, he criticised the length of his rival's blades, before apologising for the remarks.