Oscar Pistorius calls on SA to bring Olympic and Paralympic Games to Africa

"We've had the Rugby World Cup in 1995, the Cricket World Cup in 2003 and the football in 2010, and we've shown that we can host phenomenal international competitions," said Pistorius, who was honoured at this year's Virgin Active Sport Industry Awards with the SuperSport Outstanding Contribution to South African Sport award.

"The Olympics is definitely the missing one in that impressive collection, so I think if we could host it that would be great. I know that they've been talking about it in Durban and it would be the right city for that," he said.

Invest in sport facilities

In an exclusive interview with sportindustry.co.za, which can be seen here, the 'blade runner' also called for fresh investment into South Africa's sporting facilities, pointing in particular to the lack of world-class athletics tracks.

"We are very good with sport, but the sports that we have are mostly team sports. I think sometimes the facilities we have are not up to world standard and that's often where we need to be realistic with the individual sports," he said. "In a country like France, just in Paris they have 22 Mondo tracks, which is the international surface we run on; I think we have one in South Africa. So there are a lot of facilities that we really need across the spectrum," Pistorius continued.

The double amputee made history by competing in this year's Olympic Games, but is now fully focused on Paralympic gold. "We have a phenomenal Paralympic team, and to be part of this team for the third time is a blessing," he said. "In London I think it's going to be quite a special Paralympic Games - one like we've never seen before. The reach that this Paralympic Games is going to have is going to be far more impactful than in previous years and to be part of Team South Africa and to be able to represent my country in the four events that we've managed to qualify for is going to be quite a big feat. I'm looking forward to it. I think it should be a phenomenal experience."

Support for awards is special

Earlier this year, Pistorius won the SuperSport Outstanding Contribution to South African Sport award at the Virgin Active Sport Industry Awards 2012, and he spoke of his pride in the industry's recognition.

"This last year's just been really terrific, and I've got a lot of people to thank for that. The actual award was extremely humbling - my headmaster came out and delivered the speech - and it was just really special to see a lot of the people in our industry, both sportsmen and contributors from leading industries in South Africa that were there to support the awards. To receive that was extremely humbling for me and it's one of the moments that I'll remember off the track for a long time."