"Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius (R) from South Africa crosses the finish line ahead of Jerome Singleton of the United States during the final of men's 100m T44 of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, in Beijing, China, Sept. 9, 2008. Pistorius claimed the title of the event with a time of 11.17 seconds. (Xinhua/Li Ga)

The Beijing Paralympics were tainted Tuesday by a doping scandal, while South African sensation sprinter Oscar Pistorius started his quest for three gold medals on a winning note.

Pistorius, nicknamed "Blade Runner" after his J-shaped carbon fiber prostheses, overcame a slow start to win the men's TT 44 100m sprint in 11.17 seconds, about a quarter of a second slower than his world record of 10.91 set last year.

America's Jerome Singleton was edged into second place, just 0.03 seconds behind Pistorius. Defending champion Marlon Shirley, also an American, fell onto the ground halfway in the race and came the last.

"The first 30 meters was terrible, and I thought that with 70m to go I made the best of it to get out on top, and that went as planned," said Pistorius, who will also run 200m and 400m.

Pistorius was born without his fibula, the smaller of the two bones in the lower legs, and when he was 11 months old both limbs were amputated below the knee.

The International Association of Athletics Federations ruled Pistorius's carbon fiber blades gave him an advantage and barred him from competing against able-bodied athletes. The Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the ban in May but he eventually failed to reach the Olympic qualifying standard.

Pakistani powerlifter Naveed Ahmed Butt became the first athlete caught for doping offense and had been kicked out of the Games after testing positive for methandienone metabolites, a steroid, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said in a statement.

The 37-year-old, who had been due to show up in the men's 100kg competition next week, also received a two-year ban.

According to the IPC, the urine sample was taken on September 4 in Beijing, two days before the opening ceremony.

In the Athens 2004 Paralympics, 680 doping tests were conducted and 10 violations emerged. The IPC has said it plans to carry out 1,100 tests, both in and out of competition, in Beijing.

Meanwhile, a wheelchair race will be re-contested, although the medals had already been handed out, the IPC said.

In Monday evening's T-54 5,000m race, several competitors were embroiled in a wheelchair crash and only five athletes finished the race, which was won by Canada's Diane Roy. Britain's Shelly Woods and American Amanda Mcgrory was second and third respectively.

A jury of appeal decided that the race should be re-run on Friday in light of "the seriousness of the crash", said IPC athletics chairman Chris Cohen.

"There were six athletes who were taken out of the race because of the crash," he said. "In the interests of fairness to all concerned, it was decided that race should be held again."

A total of 61 gold medal events were scheduled for Tuesday, the most for any single day during the 11-day event. Host China collected eight golds, six in track and field and one in judo and powerlifting each, to lift its gold medal total to 16. Thanks to a strong showing by its cyclists, Britain followed closely in the medals table with 14 golds. The United States was third with 10.

Chinese star swimmer Wang Xiaofu's ambition of copying Michael Phelps' success were crushed when the 21-year-old amputee finished second in the men's S8 100m breaststroke. He now has three medals, in different colors.

With six more events to take part, Wang is unable to match his American idol who won an unprecedented eight gold medals at last month's Olympics.

British cyclists continued their gold rush with five more victories at the Laoshan Velodrome, taking their gold medal haul to nine, more than half of the already decided.

More than 4,000 athletes from 147 countries and regions compete in 20 sports in five different categories of disability, with a total of 472 gold medals at stake.

The Paralympics will end on Sept. 17.

Editor: Yan