When Oscar Pistorius first lined up in the 100m at the Paralympic Games he barely knew the names of the competitors either side of him in Athens' Olympic Stadium. And in turn they would have had little clue about the young man from Pretoria, let alone that he was still two months shy of his 18th birthday.
Eight years on, Pistorius is one of sport's most recognisable figures, transcending his sport, athletics, like few others and the Paralympics like no other. It is not only he whose fame has grown, the Games in which he will compete for the third time have developed too and so have the athletes that will compete against him.
"I ran in Athens but up to the beginning of that year I didn't know much about the Paralympics," said Pistorius. "I didn't know the guys' names who lined up beside me for my first race. I think the biggest turn-out was 20,000 on one Saturday, on the rest of the days it was between seven and 12,000.
"Four years later in Beijing you had full houses most days but the perception was still lacking I believe in not only disabled sports but in people living with disabilities. In the last two or three years there has been such a shift really with the excitement building up to these Games.
"Athens was such an amazing experience. I wish I had got involved in Paralympic sport earlier. It has been the most amazing last eight years. With this being my third Paralympic Games I'm a little envious of all the youngsters who are going to be able to step out on the track for the first time and experience this because the Paralympic movement has grown so, so much over the last eight years. It's been great to see the transformation of the sport.
