( CNN ) -- South African `` blade runner '' Oscar Pistorius smashed a Paralympic record to win the men 's 400m T44 in the final athletics event of the 2012 Games . Pistorius , who suffered a shock defeat in the 200m to Brazilian Alan Fonteles Cardoso Oliveira , covered the 400m in the record time of 46.68 seconds . Oliveira missed out on a 400m medal after slipping from second place to fourth over the final 70 meters . American athletes Blake Leeper and David Prince took silver and bronze in 50.14 seconds and 50.61 , respectively -- more than three seconds behind Pistorius , who bolted down the final stretch . The double-amputee later tweeted : `` What a special evening ! The highlight of my Paralympic games was the crowd tonight ! Gold in the final event of the London 2012 games ! '' Opinion : Pistorius , an inspiration and a question . It was Pistorius ' only individual gold medal win of the Paralympic Games . He took gold in the men 's 4x100m relay , but failed to place in the individual 100m T44 and took silver in the 200m T44 individual event . Immediately after his 200m loss , the runner stirred up controversy by accusing the International Paralympic Committee of ignoring his concerns about the length of his rivals ' prosthetics . From the side of the track , Pistorius described their blades as being `` unbelievably long . '' `` You ca n't compete on stride length , '' he said . `` You saw how far ( Alan ) came back so , you know what , we 're not racing a fair race here , but I gave my best on a great night . '' Pistorius later apologized for the timing of his comments but said he believed `` there is an issue here . '' The Paralympian made history in July by becoming the first double-amputee at able-bodied Summer Olympics when he competed at the 2012 Games in London . While the runner failed to win a medal , his presence on the track was lauded as an example of victory over adversity , and a lesson in dedication to a goal . After initially being refused permission to compete against able-bodied competitors , Pistorius hired a legal team to prove that his artificial limbs did n't give him an unfair advantage . Born with a congenital abnormality , Pistorius had both his legs amputated below the knee at 11 months of age and now runs on specially-adapted carbon-fiber limbs .
David Prince beats London rivals by more than three seconds . The win is his only individual gold medal of the 2012 Games . It was the final event at the 2012 Paralympics in U.S. . Pistorius earlier accused rivals of using `` unbelievably long '' blades .