Double Amputee Eligible to Compete for a Spot in Olympics

A double-amputee man has won approval to compete for a place in the Beijing Olympics.

Oscar Pistorius, a champion sprinter from South Africa, appealed a ban by the International Association of Athletics Federation that kept him from competing against able-bodied athletes. The IAAF claimed the biomechanical prosthetic device Pistorius uses gives him an unfair advantage.

On Friday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned that ban, paving the way for Pistorius to compete for a spot on the South African Olympic team.

In its binding decision, the CAS stated the J-shaped “Cheetah” blades used by Pistorius had not been proven to give the double-amputee any metabolic advantage over other athletes.

Pistorius, who holds the 400-meter Paralympic world record of 46.56 seconds, must now meet the Olympic qualifying standard of 45.55.

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