From the [South Africa] Independent:

South African double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius on Friday vowed to challenge any decision by the governing athletics body IAAF barring him from competing in the Bejing Olympics “at the highest levels”.

The 21-year-old athlete, nicknamed Blade Runner because he runs on carbon-fibre blades, was speaking to reporters three days before the IAAF was due to issue the finding of an investigation into whether his Cheetah Flex-Feet give him an unfair advantage over able-bodied athletes – a decision expected to go against him.

A grave-looking Pistorius dressed in a dark-blue pin-striped suit reiterated his belief that his prostheses did not give him “an unfair advantage”.

Related column by George Vecsey in the New York Times: Admirable spirit, but rules are rules

When I heard about Pistorius, I thought about other brave athletes I had witnessed overcoming the limitations of their bodies. In 1949, I saw a World War II veteran named Lou Brissie, who had nearly lost a lower leg in combat, pitch in the All-Star Game in Brooklyn. I can still hear the applause from Dodgers fans for Brissie, a Philadelphia Athletics left-hander, who wore an orthotic shoe on his leg, which was an inch shorter than his other leg.

I would love to imagine the cheers for Oscar Pistorius at the starting blocks this August but, at the risk of sounding like a spoilsport, I think the I.A.A.F. should decide against allowing him to compete.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 11th, 2008 at 7:24 pm and is filed under celebrities, exercise/sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.