The Amazing Story of Oscar Pistorius

CAS, otherwise called The Court of Arbitration for Sport, had a major decision this past week. Oscar Pistorius of South Africa was born without any fibula's in his legs. At the age of 11 months, doctors amputated both legs below the knees.

So how does a amputee run without legs you ask? Well Oscar wears a set of carbon prosthetic running blades. You can see a picture and read an article about him here at this Web site. sports.espn.go.com

Oscar, who is 21 years old, plans to try to qualify in the 400 meter run in Olympics in Track and Field. He still has to qualify with a time of 45.55. That is the Olympic standard. However, he could be selected to run as a member of the 4 by 400 relay team without qualifying. that team has yet to qualify for the Olympics also.

Not only will Oscar be able to compete in the Beijing Olympics, he will also be able to participate later in the summer at the Paralympic games in September. Those games will also be held in Beijing on September 6-17.

How fast can Oscar run the 400 meter run? He currently holds the World Record at 46.56 for handicapped individuals. 43.18 is the current World Record held by Michael Johnson of the United States. It was set in August of 1999.

CAS meet this past week to decide if the amputee had an advantage because of his use of the carbon blades over other individuals. The International Association of Athletics Federation had previously placed a ban on Pistorius from competing against normal athletes. CAS overturned that ban this past week.

The IOC, International Olympic Committee welcomed the verdict and the IAAF has now done the same. The IAAF did not want to look like the bad guys by banning Oscar. However, they had to do it to be fair to the other athletes that participate. That is one of the main functions of the IAAF. Now that Oscar was cleared after the two day hearing by the CAS, they are happy to encourage him.