damian
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TEARS OF JOY AS OSCAR GETS THE NOD By Kevin McCallum Oscar Pistorius, the "fastest man on no legs", cried when he took asignificant step for himself yesterday but a giant leap for all of theplanet's disabled after winning the right to compete at the BeijingOlympics. The 21-year double amputee athlete, dubbed the "Bladerunner", won his appealat the Court for Arbitration in Sport (CAS) in Lausanne against anInternational Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ban that preventedhim from competing against able-bodied athletes. The CAF ruled Pistoriusgained no advantage from his carbon-fibre prosthetic blades. "I was just blown away when I found out," said Pistorius. "When they told meI cried. It is a battle that has been going on for far too long. It's agreat day for sport. I think this day is going to go down in history for theequality of disabled people." Andy Scott, who has been the driving force behind the South AfricanParalympic team for years, said it was the best news all year. "It's unbelievable, simply unbelievable," said Scott. "I can tell you this:if you listen carefully you will hear the sound of prosthetics and crutchesbeing banged on the ground all round the world in celebration. "Oscar must be commended for his absolute tenacity in pursuing his case.This is a huge step for sport for the disabled not only in South Africa butglobally. It takes us that bit closer to the world of able-bodied sport, aworld that has been closed off to the disabled for so long. "What he and Natalie du Toit have achieved is incredible. When Nataliequalified for the Olympics it was a huge moment for South Africa. Now wehave the opportunity to have both Natalie and Oscar at the Olympics and theParalympics. That will be a huge inspiration for all disabled people,whether they take part in sport or not. Once again South Africa is leadingthe way." Pistorius's appeal was taken up on a pro bono basis by international lawfirm of Dewey & LeBoeuf, who compiled a team of experts led by ProfessorHugh Herr of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to refute the IAAFclaims. "I have to thank all the people who have been so supportive of me throughoutall of this," said Pistorius. "There have been so many awesome people backhome and around the world who have sent me SMSes or e-mails. My lawyers havebeen great throughout and kept me confident that things would go our way. "I hope the findings silence many of the crazy theories that have been goingaround about my having an unfair advantage. All I wanted to do was to get afair shake for myself and for all disabled athletes to be given the chanceto compete fairly with able-bodied athletes. I have the opportunity onceagain to chase my dream of the Olympics, if not 2008, in 2012." Now the paper war has been won the hard work starts. Should Pistorius, nowperhaps the most recognisable disabled athlete in the world, qualify for the400m in Beijing in August, he will join fellow amputee Natalie du Toit. Du Toit became the first amputee ever to qualify and swim at the Olympics;Pistorius could be the second, but needs to run under the Olympic "A"qualifying time of 45.55 seconds. If no other South African runs faster than45.55 secs he can attempt to qualify for the "B" qualifying time of 45.95secs. His current personal best is 46.56 secs, a Paralympic record. "If I still make the qualifying time for those, the door will still be openin the Olympics," said Pistorius, who will compete against able-bodiedathetes in Milan, Rome on July 2 and 11. "A lot of the time this year we've devoted to the court case," Pistoriussaid. "Now when I get home my time can be dedicated to training. I am goingto have to start getting my body in shape in order to run those qualifyingtimes. I am hopeful there will be enough time but it is going to be verydifficult." Moss Mashishi, president of SASCOC, the South African Olympic body, said:"We're overjoyed. It's a great outcome for Oscar." Pistorius was born without fibula bones and had his legs amputated below theknee when he was 11 months old. He took up running seriously just a few months before the AthensParalympics, breaking world records in the 100m and 200m.
