Paris - Oscar Pistorius has only 12 days left to meet the all-important qualification time that would allow him to compete in the International Association of Athletics federations World Championships in Daegu, South Korea.
The 24-year-old runner, who had both lower legs amputated when he was 11 months old, has captured four Paralympic gold medals but has been cleared to run in able-bodied races using his artificial legs since 2008.
After missing out on the Beijing Olympics by just 0.3 seconds, Pistorius now needs to match or better the qualifying time of 45.25 seconds by July 19 to ensure a slot in the South African squad for the August 27 to September 4 world championships.
Pistorius was 0.36 slower than the required time at the South African national trials in March, but has taken confidence from the fact that he was the fastest 400m runner at the meet and from his form at previous events this season.
"I've already run the 'B' qualification time twice and am the second fastest South African to do so," said Pistorius. "I'll be looking for 45.25 and if I get that then I'm in. With the progress I'm making, and with races like Friday, I believe the 'A' qualification will come, if not by the end of the season then in the next 12 months."
Pistorius' next opportunity to meet the required time will come at the IAAF Diamond league event in Paris where the 400m runner compete against a field that includes 2004 Athens Olympic 400m champion Jeremy Wariner.
The "Blade Runner", said that running against high caliber opposition helped him to improve, even though he knew he didn't stand a chance of winning the race.
"I've raced against Jeremy a couple of times. I've got a lot of respect for Jeremy, who's been at the top of our sport for quite some time," said Pistorius.
"I'm not a threat against him. It's an honour to run against him and a field as strong as is lined up on Friday, it helps me improve my times."
Pistorius said that the IAAF were now fully behind him after the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that his prosthetic limbs did not give him an unfair advantage and overturned his banning by the IAAF.
"In 2007/08 we had that battle with the IAAF, we represented it to CAS in 2008, and we ended up proving that the prosthetic leg doesn't provide an advantage," said Pistorius.
"Since then our relationship with the IAAF has been very, very good," said Pistorius. "In a way, I'm very happy to have done the test... because it's been proven that they offer no advantage. We've got no problems with anyone now."
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