Pistorius beats Oliveira for relay gold

Oscar Pistorius gained revenge for his shock 200 metres defeat by holding off his Brazilian conqueror on the final leg of the 4x100m relay to claim a belated first gold medal of London 2012.

The 25-year-old brought the South African team home in a new world record of 41.78 seconds to crown a night which saw the great blade debate take another twist.

Pistorius was pitted in direct opposition with Alan Fonteles Oliveira and American Blake Leeper, both of whose long blades he had fiercely criticised in the wake of his shock loss on Sunday. But he held off the Brazilian strongly down the home straight to roars from the crowd.

Brazilian and American disappointment was compounded when both teams, who had come home second and third respectively, were disqualified due to changeover problems in the T42-46 event.

Despite his triumph, Pistorius was at pains to express remorse for launching a fierce attack on his rivals' blades in the aftermath of his 200m loss.

He said: "I just think it was distasteful to say it at the time. I've had some time to reflect, and I think everyone makes mistakes. I've obviously had to deal with the backlash of that. It was a bad time for me to bring up that topic. I was very frustrated.

"It came out at the wrong time, and I've apologised to Alan and my supporters. It's not like me. At the end of the day, I still broke the world record in the heats, and I've got to be gracious.

"One of the things I've learned - you can be humble when you win, it's easy. But to be gracious when you lose, that's not something I did and I'm very sorry for that."

Pistorius had earlier booked his place in the final of the 100m, along with the rest of the big guns for the Games' most eagerly-anticipated final, including British teenager Jonnie Peacock, who was fastest through.

The 19-year-old, who looked relaxed and confident in his blocks, defeated Oliveira as he clocked 11.08secs into a stiff head wind, equalling the T44 Paralympic record.