The 22-year-old 'Blade Runner' came from behind to win a thrilling T44 100m, beating American James Singleton by just three hundredths of a second in a time of 11.13. Pistorius then claimed a second gold in the final race of the day as he won the T44 400m in 50.28 seconds ahead of Great Britain's Ian Jones.

It was a superb day for 19-year-old Jones, who bettered his bronze and personal best in the 100m with 200m silver in another new personal best time, but it was Pistorius who grabbed the headlines in what was his first outing on the track since breaking his ribs in a horrific boating accident in February.

“I'm super happy with the two gold medals,” Pistorius said. “The 100m was always going to be a tight race and it was always going to be a matter of catch up because Jerome Singleton is very fast in the first 30m.

“My time in the 400m was shocking – it was the worst time I've run in about three and a half years. But I know I wasn't running hard so I know I can run a lot better. It's always great running at Manchester in the BT Paralympic World Cup. It's a world class meet with all the top athletes here competing.”

As well as Jones, there was notable other British success, with David Weir in particular impressing with gold in the T54 1500m and silver in the 800m. Like Pistorius, the event was Weir's first since his double gold winning exploits in Beijing and the 29-year-old was thrilled with his displays.

“It feels good to win two medals and get the cobwebs out after Beijing. I've had five months out so I'm pretty pleased with my performance today.

“The BT Paralympic World Cup is a really important event. It's the first race of the season so it's good to test your body and see how fit you are. It gives you a chance to see your competition as well and see how they are getting on at this early stage.”

In the women's T54 1500m and 800m, Great Britain's Shelly Woods claimed two bronze medals, while Ben Rushgrove stormed to glory in the T36 100m in a competition record time of 12.47 seconds. Other British medallists included Libby Clegg who won gold in the T12 100m and bronze in the 200m and Sophie Hancock who won bronze medals in both the F40 shot put and discus.

Over at the Manchester Aquatics Centre, swimmers were beginning their BT Paralympic World Cup campaign at the International Open event.

The British swimmers were in storing form, with Britain's David Roberts smashing his own world record in the men's 400m freestyle. Roberts took two seconds off his previous S7 record, finishing in 4:50.35. Meanwhile, USA's Curtis Lovejoy also achieved a new world record in the men's 50m breaststroke. Lovejoy, (S1) finished in 1:29.94.

Canada's Amber Thomas (S1) also achieved a North American record in the women's 400m freestyle in 5:51.58. And New Zealand's Michael Ardern (S7) tasted similar success in the men's 100m backstroke finishing in 1:21.16 setting a new Oceanic Record.

In the afternoon session Great Britain's Natalie Jones (S6) came close to setting another European record in the medley after her success last week at the disability championships. Jones' previous best was 3:14.38; however she came home to clinch gold finishing in 3:14.71.

“I was going for the world record but I think I lost it towards the end of the race. I definitely have another world record in me. I have the European record so I have proved that I can do it and have shown that I am capable of doing it.”

In the same race Britain's Eleanor Simmonds (S6) came in second and Heather Frederiksen (S8) set a new European record.

Swimming will continue on Monday, with the BT Paralympic World Cup finals taking place during BBC2's live broadcast. The BT Paralympic World Cup is the first major multi-sport elite disability event to be staged in the UK ahead of London 2012 and major international stars and a strong British contingent are expected.

The competition is staged in Manchester from 20-25 May, with over 400 competitors from over 31 countries scheduled to compete. Athletes compete in four sports at world class competition venues in Manchester: wheelchair basketball and athletics hosted at the Manchester Regional Arena, swimming at the Manchester Aquatics Centre and track cycling at the Manchester Velodrome.

Tickets for the BT Paralympic World Cup are now still sale and can be purchased via the event website: www.btparalympicworldcup.com or the ParalympicsGB website: www.paralympics.org.uk or by calling 0844 847 1622. Tickets cost £3 per session.

BT is the title sponsor of the Paralympic World Cup; the sponsorship runs up to and includes the 2012 BT Paralympic World Cup. The official 2009 stakeholders of the BT Paralympic World Cup are the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), Manchester City Council and UK Sport. The BT Paralympic World Cup is held in association with ParalympicsGB and sanctioned by the IPC, the UCI and IWBF. The BBC, the official televised partner to the event, will broadcast live from the Manchester Aquatics Centre on Monday 25 May 2009 on BBC Television.

Rights free images from the BT Paralympic World Cup can be downloaded from Action Images: www.actionimages.com.

Radio stations can obtain regular audio direct from the BT Paralympic World Cup from Made in Manchester: paul@madeinmanchester.tv / Russell@madeinmanchester.tv.