Pistorius test case fails

By John Mehaffey - Analysis

LONDON (Reuters) - Nightmare visions of athletes using all sorts of mechanical aids to improve performances prompted the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to amend its rules last year.

The IAAF banned technical devices incorporating "springs, wheels or any other element" giving athletes an advantage over their competitors.

In response South African double amputee Oscar Pistorius, who competes with carbon fiber blades attached to his legs, decided to test the new regulation.

Pistorius, who won a gold and bronze at the 2004 Paralympics, said he should be allowed to run at this year's Beijing Olympics because the blades gave him no extra advantage over able-bodied athletes.

Unfortunately for Pistorius, an IAAF study released on Monday found he expended 25 percent less energy than an able-bodied runner of comparable ability and received more than 30 percent mechanical advantage.

As a result, the IAAF's ruling council decided unanimously to ban Pistorius from the Beijing Games and all its other competitions.

An IAAF official told Reuters the world governing body had been concerned about the implications of prosthetic aids.

"It's for the future," he said. "It's about what might happen in 20 or 30 years."

Pistorius, whose legs were amputated beneath the knee when he was 11 months old, has worn the blades for 4-1/2 years.

Although he has raced only twice against able-bodied runners overseas, his manager Peet van Zyl told Reuters he had competed more against able-bodied athletes than disabled.

PISTORIUS APPEAL

Van Zyl said Pistorius would appeal against the decision after experts in the United States had told them the Bruggeman report "did not take enough variables into consideration".

The IAAF does not ban all prosthetics and athletes have completed marathons with artificial legs or feet.

In response last year to concern in the disabled community about the new IAAF rule, U.S. council member Robert Hersh went on National Public Radio to explain that the ban on springs and wheels was designed to ensure athletes did not get an unfair advantage.

A statement from the International Paralympic Committee on Monday said it acknowledged the scientific validity of the tests.