ROME, July 10, 2008 (AFP) - South African double amputee Oscar Pistorius on Thursday was back in Rome, where he ran his first race against able-bodied athletes a year ago, to make another bid to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

'The time I'm going to run tomorrow night is going to be a lot better than last year,' Pistorius told a news conference. 'I hope to come close, if not to even qualify.'

'I'm very confident that in the future I'm going to qualify for the Olympics,' said Pistorius, who had both legs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old.

'I want to get as close as possible (on Friday). I've got the dream of the Olympic Games, but I still have my career ahead of me,' including the Commonwealth Games in 2010 and the London Olympics in 2012, when he will be 25, he said.

Competing in the London Olympics is a 'far more realistic' goal, he said, adding: 'It's an extremely difficult goal. Sometimes I ask myself if I'm being realistic.'

After running a disappointing 47.78sec in Milan last Wednesday, Pistorius will try to get under the magic time of 45.55sec at the Rome Golden League meeting here on Friday.

His best ever performance is 46.34, still well outside the Olympic qualifying mark.

Pistorius already holds the world records for the 100m, 200m and 400m Paralympic events, and is nicknamed the 'Blade Runner' because of his J-shaped carbon fibre prosthetic lower legs.

A legal battle that ended in May when the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned a ban on him competing with able-bodied athletes cost Pistorius precious training time, but once it was won, he decided to 'grab the opportunity with both hands,' he said.

Discussing the controversy surrounding his career, Pistorius said he tried to remain focused on his running: 'I'm always going to have critics and people who believe what they like. ... My job is just to do my best on the track.'

After the legal battle, 'the doubts died down quite a lot since, people are beginning to have their questions answered,' he said.

'Without a doubt, the prosthetic leg can't even come close to a human leg,' Pistorius added.