IAAF Bars Pistorius from Beijing Olympics

South African bilateral amputee Oscar Pistorius, who runs with carbon fiber running prosthetics attached to his legs, will not be allowed to compete at this year's Beijing Olympics, Reuters news service reported. A report commissioned by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) released on Monday, January 14, concluded that the artificial limbs used by Pistorius give him a significant advantage over able-bodied runners.

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.

Pistorius' manager Peet van Zyl told Reuters the athlete would appeal the decision. "We are obviously very disappointed with the IAAF decision, and we need to talk with them and our legal advisors about how we progress--what we need to do to appeal in terms of the IAAF regulations," Van Zyl said.

In 2007, 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." 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. The report said the returned energy from the prosthetic blades, known as Cheetahs, was close to three times higher than the ankle joint.

"The mechanical advantage of the blade in relation to the healthy ankle joint of an able-bodied athlete is higher than 30 percent," it added. "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."

Van Zyl said Bruggeman's study had not considered enough factors. "We have circulated the report from Bruggeman to various experts in the United States, and they have told us it did not take enough variables into consideration when deciding whether the prosthetics gave Oscar a significant advantage," he said.

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. He holds Paralympics records in the 100m, 200m, and 400m.

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