Amputee Sprinter Shifts Focus to 2012

PRETORIA, South Africa, Jan. 15 -- The world's most famous amputee sprinter conceded on Tuesday that a ruling by international track and field officials had ended his hopes of participating in the Beijing Olympics in August. But he vowed to continue fighting for the right to compete against anyone, whether they run on feet or carbon-fiber blades.

Oscar Pistorius, 21, said that new batteries of tests by experts based in the United States would allow him to challenge Monday's ruling by the International Association of Athletics Federations, which said that his carbon-fiber prosthetic legs -- known as "Cheetahs" -- gave him an unfair advantage in competition.

But the next round of tests, which have not yet been scheduled, cannot yield results quickly enough to complete an appeal in time for Beijing, Pistorius said. Instead he has set his sights on the 2012 Games in London, when he will be 25.

"In 2012 in London, I'll be firing and ready to go," he said.

The story of Pistorius, who was born without fibulas and had his legs amputated mid-calf when he was 11 months old, has generated worldwide attention that has approached a mania in his native South Africa. Here in the capital, where he lives and trains, he is a local hero whose bid to represent the nation in the Olympics has been chronicled avidly.

Newspaper headlines plastered on telephone poles across the city blared "Blade Runner Cut Down" and "Oscar's Beijing Hopes Dashed."

Pistorius, who has an open, boyish face and an athlete's muscled shoulders, spent the morning at the gym, lifting weights and working on an exercise bike. Then he met with journalists for much of the afternoon and also greeted fans and friends at the outdoor track at the University of Pretoria, where he studies business management. Among the well-wishers was a boy on crutches who was being fitted with his first pair of prosthetic running legs.

Monday's ruling went far beyond complicating Pistorius's bid to appear in the Olympics. Because most national, local and collegiate athletic bodies belong to the IAAF, the decision effectively bars him and any other runner using the J-shaped prosthetic blades from competing against other elite runners in regular races.

Pistorius holds the world record in the 100, 200 and 400 meters in the Paralympics, an elite competition for athletes with disabilities. He now mainly participates in competitions against runners with normal legs. South African athletics officials say he no longer will be eligible for these races unless the IAAF ruling is reversed or overruled.

"It's been a huge blow to my calendar," Pistorius said.

The IAAF ruling was based on tests conducted on the prosthetic blades at German Sports University in Cologne in November. The results showed that Pistorius was able to run at the same speed as other runners while using less energy, meaning that the blades amounted to "technical aids."

"As soon as a given speed is reached, running with the prosthetics needs less additional energy than running with natural limbs," the IAAF said in a statement.

Pistorius expressed confidence that more extensive testing will show that he has no advantage. If the IAAF cannot be convinced, he said he may seek to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, an international body headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. But that path is likely to be both time-consuming and costly, said his manager, Peet van Zyl.

"The onus is now on us to prove that the tests that were conducted in Cologne were inconclusive," Van Zyl said.

Pistorius faces another problem: He has not met qualifying standards for the Olympics in the 100, 200 or 400. But he finished second in the 400 at South Africa's national championships last year against able-bodied runners. That could have made him a candidate for South Africa's 4x400 Olympic relay team if the country qualified for the Games as one of the world's 16 fastest teams.

He plans to work on meeting the Olympic standard in the 400 beginning Wednesday, when he will leave for a training session in Cape Town for the South African Paralympian team. The Paralympics will be held in Beijing in September, the month after the Olympics.

"By tomorrow afternoon, I'll be relaxed, on a track, dieting, just a week and a half to train, which is always good," he said. "I've still got a lot to train for."