<> on November 28, 2010 in Loughborough, England.

JONNIE PEACOCK is taking inspiration from the success of Oscar Pistorius as he bids to make a splash at the London 2012 Paralympics.

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Peacock races against Pistorius in the T44 100 metres, and finished sixth behind him at the IPC World Championships in New Zealand earlier this year.

South African Pistorius hit the headlines last month for his inclusion at the able-bodied IAAF World Championships, where he won 4x400m relay silver.

And 18-year-old Peacock said the advice of the man known as “Blade Runner” has helped him hone his own performance.

He said: “I remember racing against Oscar at the Paralympic World Cup in 2010 and my technique was atrocious but when I raced him in New Zealand he said to me it had improved dramatically.

“That was a big confidence boost and what people fail to recognise is that there are several other runners like him that use the ‘Cheetah’ blades at elite levels – he is just so much faster than those that use them.

“Yes he is gifted but he puts in the hard work in training and there is no way you can say he has an advantage, if anything he is disadvantaged because in training he can’t do things able-bodies guys can.

“He has done a lot for Paralympic sport and there are a lot of elite Paralympic athletes around – Jason Smyth who is visually impaired was at the able-bodied World Championships for Ireland.

“He didn’t make the 100m semi-finals but he is still running the quickest times in Ireland and despite what Russell Brand says the Paralympics aren’t just a novelty value there are some amazing and inspirational stories around.”

Peacock, who trains in Cambridge, has just returned from Portugal, where he was part of anAviva-funded UK Athletics warm-weather training camp in Monte Gordo.

A host of Britain’s leading Paralympic athletes attended the simulation camp, which is to mirror their build-up to the London Paralympic Games.

And with less than a year to go until the start of the games, Peacock believes he is on track to improve his personal best time of 11.47 seconds.

“If you had said I would be running 12 seconds when I first started I would have been happy but I am running under 12 seconds now – 11.47 – and I have improved a lot,” he added.

“But I haven’t reached a plateau yet and ultimately the 2012 Paralympics are the main goal but I want to go to Rio in 2016 and do some damage and 2020 as well.”

*You can apply for tickets until 6pm on Monday 26th September for the London 2012 Paralympic Games – for more information, please go to www.tickets.london2012.com. Three quarters of tickets are priced at £20 or less.