South African double amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius should know within three weeks if he can compete at the Beijing Olympics, an official for the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said on Wednesday.
”We have been asked to deliver a decision as soon as possible,” CAS secretary general Mathieu Reeb said on the last day of Pistorius’s two-day hearing.
”Normally the decision will be rendered in a few days after the hearing, I don’t know exactly when, but I would say probably in two or three weeks maximum.”
Pistorius (21) runs with carbon-fibre blades attached to both legs below the knees.
He has appealed to CAS against a ruling by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) barring him from competing at the August Games.
The IAAF ruled in January that Pistorius could not compete against able-bodied athletes after a specially commissioned study found that the blades offered him a significant advantage.
”That is the main issue here, whether the technical device used by Oscar Pistorius, his prosthesis, can be considered as an advantage compared to the other athletes,” Reeb said.
”On the legal point of view it’s probably not that complicated but the technical aspect is very special.
”It’s the first time that the Court of Arbitration for Sports has had to deal with an appeal by a disabled athlete wishing to participate in competition with [able-bodied] athletes.”
Pistorius attended both days of the hearing but did not talk to reporters outside the court building. — Reuters