South African double amputee Oscar Pistorius on Thursday was back in Rome, where he ran his first race against able-bodied athletes a year ago, to make another bid to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

"The time I'm going to run tomorrow night is going to be a lot better than last year," Pistorius told a news conference. "I hope to come close, if not to even qualify."

"I'm very confident that in the future I'm going to qualify for the Olympics," said Pistorius, who had both legs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old.

"I want to get as close as possible (on Friday). I've got the dream of the Olympic Games, but I still have my career ahead of me," including the Commonwealth Games in 2010 and the London Olympics in 2012, when he will be 25, he said.

Competing in the London Olympics is a "far more realistic" goal, he said, adding: "It's an extremely difficult goal. Sometimes I ask myself if I'm being realistic."

After running a disappointing 47.78 seconds in Milan last Wednesday, Pistorius will try to get under the magic time of 45.55 seconds at the Rome Golden League meeting today.

(AFP via China Daily July 12, 2008)