Pistorius No Cheetah

Oscar Pistorius, the South African Paralympic champion and double-amputee sprinter who uses "Cheetah" racing blades, has won his appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the IAAF ruling which prevented him from competing in able-bodied competitions. The CAS judgment overturns the decision of the IAAF in January 2008 to ban Pistorius from competing at the Beijing Olympics (rather than Paralympics) on the basis of him having an unfair advantage over able bodied athletes. CAS found that there was insufficient evidence of a metabolic advantage.

The IAAF made its ruling after conducting a series of biomechanical tests on Pistorius's blades in November of last year. At an independent testing session conducted by the German Sport University in Cologne, Pistorius was tested against five able-bodied athletes capable of similar performances at the 400 metre discipline. The test report revealed that an athlete using these prosthetic blades has a demonstrable mechanical advantage (more than 30%) when compared to someone not using the blades. As a result, the IAAF decided that the blades should be considered as technical aids in contravention of IAAF Rule 144.2. Pistorius was therefore deemed ineligible to compete in competitions organised under IAAF Rules.

The two day appeal hearing at CAS ended on 30 April. Delivering its verdict, the CAS panel suggested that at the present time, there was not enough scientific evidence available to prove that Pistorius was obtaining an advantage from the use of the prostheses.

The process of testing and the CAS appeal was entered into in constructively by both the IAAF and Pistorius, with both stating in advance that they would accept the decision of the CAS panel. In response to the judgment, the IAAF President, Lamine Diack, stated that Pistorius "will be welcomed wherever he competes this summer. He is an inspirational man and we look forward to admiring his achievements in the future". Having won the right to compete at the 2008 Olympic Games, Pistorius believes that the event may come too soon given his level of preparation but he has already set his sights on competing at London 2012.