Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters

Britain's Jonnie Peacock (2nd left) wins the men's 100m T-44 final ahead of South Africa's Amu Fourie (left), Richard Browne of the U.S. (2nd right) and South Africa's Oscar Pistorius in the Olympic Stadium at the London 2012 Paralympic Games Thursday.

LONDON - The men’s 100-meter final was the most hyped race in Paralympic history, with all eyes on “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius fighting to defend his Beijing Paralympic gold medal in the event.

But the home favorite and world-record holder, 19-year-old Briton Jonnie Peacock, wound up stealing the show. When he was introduced on the starting line, the crowd went wild, erupting into the loudest roar of the night.

The field in the race -- held under the T44 classification of disability -- was stacked with international heavyweights.

Among them was the current 100-meter world champion, 26-year-old American Jerome Singleton, who took that title from international icon Pistorius.

Photos: Oscar Pistorius surrenders another Paralympic title

Next to Singleton was Team USA’s Blake Leeper, who’d recently tied the world record for the T43 100-meter sprint in a time of 10.91. Down the line was Pistorius’ Paralympic roommate and longtime Team South Africa rival, Arnu Fourie.

100-meter showdown: Team USA vs. Pistorius

Also in the running was Brazil’s Alan Oliveira, who beat Pistorius in a 200-meter upset on Sunday. Pistorius’ post-race criticism of Oliveira has been the talk of these games.

An obviously nervous Oliviera had a false start, leading to a delay.

The 80,000-strong crowd seized the chance to cheer Peacock one final time. But, trying to keep his concentration, he put his finger to his mouth, requesting silence. The crowd quieted down as the runners took their marks again.

And they were off. A mere 10.9 seconds later -- just 0.05 seconds outside his world record -- a new Paralympic champion was born as Peacock blazed across the finish line for the gold.

London 2012 legacy under the spotlight as end nears

Just behind him, Team USA’s Richard Browne clinched the silver with a personal best time, blowing his title-holding teammates away.

Just behind Browne was Fourie for the bronze.

Pistorius crossed the line out of the medals in fourth place. He ran straight to Peacock and delivered a congratulatory hug.

Pistorius – the favorite heading into the games – has one more chance at 2012 gold when he runs in the 400 meters.  The qualifying heat is later on Friday and the final is Saturday.

London 2012: Hosting the Games

“(I) started to think, ‘Oh, crap I’m winning!’” around 60 meters into the sprint, an elated Peacock told Britain’s Channel 4 in a post-race interview.

'Meet the Superhumans': Paralympians burst onto world stage

He was quick to set his sights higher though. “I should’ve run faster than that,” he said.

Perhaps he and his coach feel that way, but the record books indicate that he indeed ran fast enough.

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Although all Olympic and Paralympic sports are exciting to watch, there’s nothing quite like the men’s 100-meter sprint -- blink and you might miss it.

And Thursday's 100-meter final promises to be an especially dramatic showdown, all played out in front of a sold-out 80,000-seat crowd.

Oscar Pistorius is the defending Olympic champion, having won in Beijing in 2008.  His recent outburst after losing the 200-meter race by 0.07 to Brazil’s Alan Fonteles Cardoso Oliveira has been the talk of the Games this week.  Tonight, they’ll face -- and race -- each other again.

But the Brazilian isn’t the only rival that Pistorius has to worry about.

Among the South African’s stiffest competition will be Team USA’s Jerome Singleton and Blake Leeper. Singleton is the current world champion in the 100 meters, beating Pistorius to that title last year. Leeper recently tied Pistorius’ world record 100-meter time of 10.91 seconds.

Singleton characterized his rivalry with Pistorius as epic.

London 2012: Hosting the Games

“Mohammed Ali had Joe Frasier. Larry Bird had Magic Johnson,” he told NBC News. “We’re going to see a phenomenal race. It’s going to be the Paralympic champion, Oscar Pistorius, versus the current world champion, Jerome Singleton,” he said flashing a showman’s smile.

“He’s been one of the only athletes to beat me in six years in the hundred.  He’s definitely a guy who stands up when it matters,” Pistorius said of Singleton.

Brotherhood of rivals
Despite their serious rivalry, these athletes respect and admire each other.

Singleton, 26, told NBC that Pistorius was both “a best friend and a brother” to him.

Julian Stratenschulte / EPA

Alan Fonteles Cardoso Oliveira (L) of Brazil and Oscar Pistorius (R) of South Africa compete in the Men's 200-meter on Sunday. Oliveira won the gold medal and Pistorius the silver.

Leeper said he was inspired to run after watching Singleton and Pistorius race each other in the 100-meter final of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

London 2012 legacy under the spotlight as end nears

“At that point, I’d never run track in my life. To be here now -- four years later in the same race -- is mind-blowing,” he said.  

Michael Steele / Getty Images

Blake Leeper competes in a men's 200-meter race on Saturday, the third day of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

For 23-year-old Leeper, it has been a long road to the Olympics. Born with a congenital birth defect, the Tennessee native was fitted with his first pair of prosthetics at just nine months of age.

“Growing up, I can remember there were times I would come home and ask my mom and dad, ‘Why me? Why does this have to be me?’ The older I got, I realized it’s not 'why me,' it’s … 'why not me?' I feel like I’m meant for this moment. I’m meant for this to happen to me. Oscar, you’d better be ready because me and my teammates, we’re coming for you!” he said.

Sideline scientists 
Singleton and Leeper’s lives off the track are inspiring.

Singleton, now a full-time athlete, was a student when he competed in the Beijing Paralympics.

Lefteris Pitarakis / AP

Jerome Singleton competes in a men's 200-meter round race at the 2012 Paralympics in London on Saturday.

Although he was proud to win a silver medal in Beijing, he felt it could have been a gold had he been focused on running full-time. So he put his career as a scientist on hold. 

Singleton wasn’t stepping back from just any career. The physics-mathematics double major studied industrial engineering and plans to pursue a doctorate in biomechanics.

Blind runner's despair turns to joy at Paralympics

“I’ve actually interned at NASA's Glenn Research Center ... working on a machinery program that was used for the Mars landing,” he said. “I went on to research at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, where I got to learn about different dimensions in smaller space.” 

For his part, Leeper remembers the moment he decided to fully commit himself to running. He was studying applied physics at the University of Tennessee with plans to develop racing prosthetics.

'Meet the Superhumans': Paralympians burst onto world stage

Nineteen at the time, Leeper sat his parents down and broke the news that he’d decided to move to Chula Vista, Calif., to train full-time at a specialized facility.

His mother burst into tears.

“Seeing that, it really hurt me, but at the end of the conversation, I still felt the same way,” he said.  “I had to do this. When I realized that even though I could see my mom cry and I still want to do it, I realized this is something I really want in life.”

The men they’re ‘supposed to be’
Leaper and Singleton are aware of their place in history, and the example they are setting for others.  

“Life can be viewed in two ways: As a warning or an example,” Singleton said. “Each day we watch the news and we see warnings of what we shouldn’t do. So we need to provide examples for our communities of what we should do, and be the man we were supposed to be, not one day meet the man we could have been.”

For Leeper, the whole point of being at the Olympics is to inspire.

“Whether it’s one kid, two kids, three kids that see me, and if I inspire them ... show them that, yeah, I’m different, I have a disability, but as long as you keep a strong mindset and stay focused you can accomplish anything," he said.

“When I was little the doctors told my parents I would never walk. Now I’m here running for my country. If that is not a testimony, I do not know what is,” Leeper added with a huge grin.

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