THE world champion Kirani James easily won his race, the Olympic semifinal 400 meter run. Carrying the hopes of the 110,000 people from his home island of Grenada, James smiled and felt relief that his dream was still alive. Then, in keeping with the Olympic spirit, the champion walked over to the South African runner after the race and asked to trade name bibs, to keep as a souvenir. The men shook hands and hugged.

The South African runner was Oscar Pistorious and he was born without legs. Last week at the London Olympics, Pistorius captured the hearts and inspired the minds of millions of people around the world when he bravely took his broken body and raised it to heights of physical accomplishment never yet seen in human history.

The world champion from tiny Grenada said, "He's an inspiration for all of us. What he does ... takes a lot of courage, just a lot of confidence," James said. “He's a great individual and it's time we see him like that and not anything else."

Pistorious was born without fibulas and his legs were amputated below the knee when he was less than a year old. Using incredible mental determination and physical hard work, he has transformed himself into a world class sprinter. With the aid of Cheetah Flex-Foot carbon fiber transtibial artificial limbs, excellent orthopedic surgery care, and the support of some proud parents, Pistorious became, last week, the first double-amputee to compete against full-bodied athletes in the Olympics.

The 25-year-old South African ran the 400 meter distance in an incredibly fast 46.54 seconds but still finished in last place. He was nearly two seconds slower than the winner of his semifinal race, Grenada's James, the world champion. Despite his disappointing finish, the packed crowd in the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium in London gave him a resounding cheer.

The Blade Runner, as he is known due to his carbon fiber prosthetic limbs, was moved by the moment. Pistorious said, "Stepping out, especially for the first race, I just got goosebumps and butterflies, it has been such a blessing, and the crowd ... all the athletes say how quick the track has been but I think it has been the energy from the crowd that made it that phenomenal."

The Blade Runner’s personal experience was made that much more remarkable by skeptics who criticized the South African’s Olympic participation as unfair to his able-bodied competitors. Pistorious is the world record holder for his class in the 100, 200 and 400 meter sprints. Like other double amputee sprinters, Pistorious has no feet and has difficulty pushing off against the starting blocks. To compensate for his slow starts, he has to run harder and quicker.

"I don't have ankle articulation so the start is always going to be one of my biggest down-points in the race," he said. "It's just one of those things that I have to work on, and be as efficient at top speed as I possibly can be."

Rather than looking for a technological edge to improve his running times, the Blade Runner believes his physical disabilities will need to be overcome with improved performance abilities. He said he could do that by further trimming his weight and with more training to improve his ability to sustain speed over a longer distance. Pistorious believes that soon he will be able to run 400 meters under 45 seconds and he hopes to compete in the next Olympic Games in 2016.

On Guam, too many of our people have suffered the fate of losing their legs to diabetes and trauma. In the past, a leg amputation would often mean a person would never walk again, much less run. For people with diabetes and heart disease, being bed-bound from a leg amputation typically meant little hope for recovery and almost certain death.

The medical technology on-island to assist people with amputated limbs has become increasingly available over the past 10 years. Orthopedic surgery and physical therapy expertise on Guam as well as in nearby Manila have helped people with broken bodies heal more completely and return to productive lives.

For some, complete physical healing requires spiritual strength to fully realize the abilities that remain rather than lamenting the disabilities that exist. This past Olympic Games, Oscar Pistorious reminded us of the old Persian proverb: “I cried because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.”