South African Oscar Pistorius set the Bird's Nest alight yesterday when he won gold in the men's 100m T44 sprint.

The 21-year-old double amputee is the world record holder in the 100m, 200m and 400m -- not to mention the biggest Paralympic athletic star in Beijing.

Winning his division in a time of 11.17 sec, Pistorius' dream of bettering his own benchmark was spoiled by a wet track after steady rain.

South Africa's Oscar Pistorius crosses the finish line to win the Men's 100m T44 final at the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, during the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games September 9, 2008. [Agencies] more photos

But he still has two more chances to break the 200m and 400m world records.

With a total of 20 athletic gold medals on offer, the Bird's Nest was the biggest source of glory on a day when the host nation grabbed six of them.

China's Zhang Zhen won the men's 5,000m T11 on his 24th birthday - according to the Chinese lunar calendar - and dedicated his performance to his mother.

"I will present the gold medal to my mother as a special gift," Zhang said.

"As the mother of a person with a disability, she has had a tough time and I want to say 'thank you, mum'."

Zhang broke Africa's domination of the event in an exciting bell lap, beating Kenyans Francis Thuo Karanja and Henry Wanyoike.

Zhang attributed the victory to a successful strategy devised by his coach.

"The Africans have always dominated the event, so I came here as a challenger," he said.

"My coach made a plan for me. I was to stay in second during the race and make the dash in the last 120m."

In other track events, China's Wu Chunmiao got off to a flying start and led all the way to win gold in the women's 100m T11 in 12.31 sec, a new Paralympic record.

Terezinha Guilhermina from Brazil settled for silver and her compatriot Adria Santos finished third.

China's men's 4x100m relay team won gold in the T53/T54 class, followed by Thailand and South Korea.

Chinese athletes also excelled in field events, with Wu Qing claiming gold in the women's discus F35/36, Xia Dong winning the men's javelin F37/38 and Zheng Baozhu, who finished fourth in the women's javelin F42-26 on Monday, snaring gold in women's shot put F42-46.

In other events, Lucas Prado from Brazil broke his own world record to win gold in the men's 100m T11 in 11.03 sec, with Jose Armando from Angora and Tresor Makunda from France second and third respectively.

Inna Dyachenko from Ukraine also set a new world record in the women's 100m T38 with a time of 13.43 sec.

Sonia Mansour from Tunisia finished second, followed by Margarita Koptilova from Russia.

The athletics events continue until Sept 17, with a total of 160 gold medals up for grabs.

About a quarter of the Games' 4,000 athletes are scheduled to compete in the Bird's Nest.