honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 5:02 a.m., Friday, July 18, 2008

Olympics: Pistorius fails to make South African team

By SABRINA SHANKMAN
Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

In this July 11 file photo, South Africa's double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius, left, competes with Italy's Teo Turchi, right, during the men's 400 meters race at the Track and Field Golden Gala meeting in Rome's Olympic stadium.

PIER PAOLO CITO | Associated Press

spacer spacer

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) _ Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius will not compete for South Africa against able-bodied athletes at the Beijing Olympics after failing to make the roster for the 1,600-meter relay team.

Pistorius, who recently won the right to compete against able-bodied athletes in an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, failed to meet the qualifying standard in the 400 meters. He had hoped to be chosen as an alternate for the 1,600 relay, but his name was not on the roster announced Friday.

Athletics South Africa president Leonard Chuene said four other runners had faster times, and two others were chosen as alternates.

Pistorius battled the International Association of Athletics Federations for the right to run. In May, the Court of Arbitration ruled against the IAAF, saying his carbon fiber prosthetic blades did not provide an unfair advantage against able-bodied athletes.

But Pistorius fell short of the 400 qualifying time of 45.55 seconds, despite running a personal best 46.25 on Wednesday at a meet in Lucerne, Switzerland. The 21-year-old Pistorius, who said his legal battles prevented him from focusing on training, had acknowledged it might be more realistic to aim for the 2012 London Olympics.

Pistorius plans to run at the Sept. 6-17 Paralympic Games in Beijing. He holds the Paralympic world record of 46.56 in the 400.

Efforts to reach Pistorius were not immediately successful. His manager, Peet Van Zyl, said considering Pistorius' recent times, he didn't expect the runner to be asked to join the team.

"From the beginning, we knew that he had to qualify," Van Zyl said. "We didn't expect him to be granted any special opportunity or anything. The rules are the rules."

The IAAF said Thursday that it fully supported Pistorius' bid to run at the Olympics, despite comments made earlier this week by general secretary Pierre Weiss. He expressed concerns that the blade-like prosthetics could cause injury to other runners while jockeying for position.

The comments "have no effect on the official eligibility of Oscar Pistorius, nor should they be misconstrued as a personal attack on Oscar," the IAAF said in a statement.

On Wednesday, the New York legal firm of Dewey and Leboeuf, which represents Pistorius, threatened legal action against the IAAF, demanding that it withdraw a statement that the body did not have the resources to check the legality of Pistorius' blades each time he ran.

Pistorius was born without fibulas — the long, thin outer bone between the knee and ankle — and was 11 months old when his legs were amputated below the knee.