Last week the International Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) ruled that a double-amputee runner from South Africa, Oscar Pistorius, would be eligible to try out for, and potentially compete with, his team at the Olympic (in addition to the Paralympic) Games. Here is the official press release:

http://www.tas-cas.org/press-release

This decision occured after Oscar and his attorneys submitted an appeal against a ruling by the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) that stated that, due to the "performance enhancing" characteristics of his prosthetic running legs, he would be ineligible to compete in able-bodied competition.

I'd like to state here my official opinion on this ruling, as stated in an interview with the San Jose Mercury News. Please feel free to contact me directly with questions/comments/arguments/rants....

-First, please note that this ruling does state that the IAAF failed to provide sufficient
evidence to prohibit Oscar from running in able bodied races at this
time, however, it also notes that the ruling is only applicable to him
under the immediate circumstances, and that this in no way prohibits
the IAAF from doing further studies that may definitively prove that
he has a technical advantage through the use of his Cheetahs.

-I truly feel that running on two prosthetic legs is a different and
distinct sport from able-bodied running, and that there are enough
differences within the performance of prosthetic legs as compared to
native (or non-prosthetic) legs to make it so that Oscar is competing in a different sport
than his Olympic counterparts. The possible advantages in energy
conservation and "spring," in addition to the ability to "replace" the
Cheetahs are a few examples of the differences between them and a
native leg from a mechanical standpoint. This
being the case, however, I do feel that we must scientifically
characterize what these differences are before we close the door on
competition to athletes who need to adapt the sport in order to
compete.

-The best case scenario would be for us to utilize the high-profile
nature of this case to enhance and grow opportunities for Paralympic
sport and track competition for double-amputee athletes. Ideally,
there would be hundreds of double amputees for Oscar to compete
against on a global level, thus creating intense, interesting
competition at the Paralympic Games in the double-amputee
classification. I don't believe that it is fair to put Oscar in a heat
with able-bodied runners, nor is it fair to place him with single-amputees (where he is
currently placed at the Paralympics due to a lack of competition with
the double-amp field). Putting him with able bodied runners is like
comparing apples to oranges and trying to figure out who wins. Same
with placing him with single amps.

-There are enough talented, athletic double amputees in this world to
create a competitive field numbering in the thousands for Oscar to
compete against. There are assuredly thousands in Africa alone, where
conflict and the use of land mines has created an exceptionally high
prevalence of double amputees. This is also the region where we often
seek out talent within track/running due to the outstanding baseline
athletic physiology of these individuals. I feel that we are being
extremely short-sighted to simply say "well...he doesnt' have anyone
to compete against." With the right resources and investment into
grassroots development, we could have hundreds of talented athletes
ready by the Paralympics in London 2012.

-Along with the development of this competitive classification, I also
feel that ultimately we need to look toward the integration of
disability sport events within the Olympic Games, but as their own
events staged within an integrated venue. This would be akin to Title
IX and having women compete alongside men at the Olympics - at this
point, we can't imagine this not being the case, however, there was a
time when it was a cutting-edge concept that there should be equal
opportunity for male and female athletes at the Olympic level. Just as
we would not expect women to compete in the 100 meter men's race, and
we create a separate (but equal) 100 meter race for women, we should
do the same for amputee runners to create an athletic event in which
we are free of discrimination and exclusion on the basis of
disability.

Thanks folks for your time - and...carry on!