Pistorius unlikely to win IAAF approval today to compete at the Beijing Olympics

ATHLETICS:South African Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee who runs with carbon fibre blades attached to his legs, appears unlikely to win approval today for his bid to compete against able-bodied runners at the Beijing Olympics.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has refused to make any comment on a report due for release today, but remarks from the expert who supervised tests on Pistorius suggest the man known as the "blade runner" will be disappointed. "He has a considerable advantage compared with athletes without prosthetic limbs who have undergone the same tests," Prof Peter Bruggeman of the Institute of Biomechanics at the German Sport University of Cologne said. "The difference is several percentage points and I did not think the findings would be so conclusive."

In 2007, the IAAF amended its rules to ban the use of "any technical device that incorporates springs, wheels or any other element that provides a user with an advantage over another athlete not using such a device".

Experts studied video analysis of Pistorius and other runners after IAAF president Lamine Diack said the athlete had improved so much that his prosthetics needed to be analysed carefully. "We cannot permit technical aids that give one athlete an unfair advantage over another," Diack said.

Pistorius, 21, who holds the double amputee world records in the 100, 200 and 400 metres, said that he had welcomed the investigation. "There is much at stake personally and for the future of all amputee athletes and I applaud the IAAF for recognising that," he said. "By aligning experts from prosthetics and biomechanics I believe we will be able to put this issue to rest one way or the other."

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, and was then disqualified for running out of his lane. He won a gold and bronze at the 2004 Athens Paralympics.