218: the cheetah is not cheating

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) had to eat humble pie today, as South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius won the right to compete at the Olympics in Beijing this summer. The IAAF had ruled Pistorius ineligible earlier this year, claiming his two prosthetic legs gave him an unfair advantage over other athletes... Today, the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned that ruling. Pistorius was born with no fibulas and had both legs amputated just below the knee as a baby. But, as today's linked article from the South African Times newspaper reports, this never kept him from sport. As a child, he played rugby, water polo and tennis, and wrestled - and then he took up sprinting just over four years ago, using a prosthetic called the Cheetah Flex Foot. This device has earned him the name 'Blade Runner' (easy to see why from the photo here, which is from the UK Times newspaper) and he has performed very well using it. This summer, he may get the chance to put his tremendous courage to the test again, if he is selected to represent South Africa in Beijing. Regardless, he has scored a major victory today, for himself and for other disabled athletes across the world.