Olympics: South African double amputee Oscar
Pistorius, who runs with carbon fibre blades attached to his legs,
will not be allowed to compete at this year's Beijing Olympics.
A report commissioned by the International Association of
Athletics Federations (IAAF) was released today, which
concluded that the prosthetics used by Pistorius, who is nicknamed
"Blade Runner", gave him a significant advantage over
able-bodied runners.
Last year, the IAAF amended its rules to ban the use of any
technical device incorporating springs, wheels "or any other
element that provides the user with an advantage over another
athlete not using such a device".
The IAAF's ruling council agreed that Pistorius should not be
allowed to run in Beijing or in any other meeting sanctioned by the
world governing body.
A study, carried out by Professor Peter Bruggeman at the
German Sport University in Cologne, compared Pistorius with five
able-bodied athletes of similar ability.
"Pistorius was able to run with his prosthetic blades at the
same speed as the able-bodied sprinters with about 25 percent less
energy expenditure," the report concluded.
It said the returned energy from the prosthetic blades,
known as "cheetahs", was close to three times higher than the
ankle joint.
"It is evident that an athlete using the Cheetah prosthetic
is able to run at the same speed as able bodied athletes with lower
energy consumption," the report added.
Last July Pistorius ran in the 400 B race at the Golden Gala
in Rome, finishing second. Two days later he finished last in wet
conditions in Sheffield, Britain, and was then disqualified for
running out of his lane.
Pistorius, whose legs were amputated below the knee when he
was 11 months old because he was born without fibulas, won a gold
and bronze at the 2004 Athens Paralympics.