|
Pistorius in fighting mood
11/01/2008 21:21 - (SA)
Pretoria - 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 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."
He also blasted the "premature and highly subjective statements" made by the German Professor Gert-Peter Brueggeman's conducting the tests on behalf of the IAAF after Pistorius was allowed to run against able-bodied athletes at several IAAF meets last year.
Born without fibula
Brueggeman told German newspaper Die Welt recently he felt Pistorius' blades give him a "considerable advantage".
Experts whom he consulted in preparing his response to the test results, which he submitted on Thursday, believed the data collected by Brueggeman "considers too few of the variables that need to be examined to make a decision of this magnitude," Pistorius said.
Pistorius was born without the fibula in his lower legs and other defects in his feet. At 11 months he was amputed below the knee.
After defeating the Paralympic world records in the 100, 200 and 400m the blond, spiky-haired runner has set his sights on becoming the first amputee runner to compete in the Olympics.
He has also competed against and defeated some able-bodied runners.
If the IAAF finds against Pistorius his agent Peet van Zyl said he might request more tests. As a last resort he would appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Lausanne.
- SAPA
|
