In an interview this Monday afternoon (03.09) in London, the 200m T44 Paralympic champion Alan Fonteles, stated that he intends on making history in Paralympic athletics. The Ministry of Sport beneficiary talked about his training and how much he had to sacrifice and renounce in order to reach the highest spot on the podium. In relation to the controversial statements made by Oscar Pistorius from South Africa, beaten by the Brazilian, Alan tried to forget the episode.

A crowd of journalists were waiting outside Stratford Station for the 20 year-old, who has shaken the world and beaten Pistorius, unbeatable in the 200m until then. Shyly and with firm statements, he still seemed not to believe his achievement. "I left the stadium around 1 in the morning and went to bed after half past three. I have no words to describe the joy I'm feeling", he stated.

At 16, Alan competed in the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing and won a silver medal in the 4x200m relay. In order to win the dreamed of gold medal, he moved to São Paulo to train. "When I won the silver in Beijing I said that I would train for four years to win the gold medal here in London", he commented.

When questioned about Oscar Pistorius, he admitted to be a little disappointed with the statements made by his idol - who credited the result to the prosthetic blades used by the Brazilian -, but said that it is in the past. "Nobody likes losing. I don?t know if I would react as he did, but certainly I would have been shaken up like he was."

For the medallist, the simple change of prosthetics is not able to improve an athlete's performance to that extreme: "I had been getting good results since last year. It is not simple to put a prosthetic blade on and start running. There is a lot of training and dedication involved". Alan also remembered the final, when he came back from behind spectacularly, overtaking Pastorius almost at the finish line. "Pistorius said that he has never seen anyone run like that on the straight. I can say that I train this part of the race a lot and when I got into the last 100 metres, I knew that I could take him on the straight.

Running Blades
The controversy emerged when Oscar Pistorius stated that some prosthetic running blades were making athletes too tall and giving them an advantage.  After the final on Sunday (02.09), the South African made controversial statements again. This Monday (03.09), after a meeting with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), he apologised for the statements, but not for their content. "I would never diminish another athlete?s moment of triumph. And I want to apologise for making those comments after the race", he stated. "I believe that there is a problem here and welcome the opportunity to discuss it with the IPC. However, I acknowledge that raising these concerns immediately after leaving the track was a mistake. That was Alan?s moment and I would like to say that I respect him."

For the technical coordinator of the Brazilian Paralympic athletics team Ciro Winckler, the change in prosthetics had a technical explanation and not the goal of generating any kind of benefit. "He is a teenager who is becoming an adult and we tried to choose the right moment so as not to affect his motor coordination", he explained.

Winckler explained that Alan Fonteles started to use the carbon fibre prosthetic running blades in 2008 at sixteen and that they had to be changed. Two months ago he started using a set of blades that made him 5cm taller. "He grew and needed new blades. We did everything in the right time, we didn?t think of harming anyone."