Athletics: Pistorius Runs Spring-heeled Into a Court Case Waiting to Happen

Writing about disability is such a linguistic minefield (oops, even minefield might be offensive, as a potential cause of disability) that my union, the NUJ, have issued guidelines. They would prefer it if I jettisoned the phrase able-bodied and used 'non-disabled' instead. So be it.

This afternoon in Sheffield at the Norwich Union British Grand Prix, an amputee athlete, Oscar Pistorius - who says: 'I'm not disabled, I just don't have any legs' - will for the first time run against elite non-disabled athletes, including Jeremy Wariner, the world and Olympic champion, over 400 meters.

Pistorius's legs were amputated when he was 11 months old. 'It was a difficult decision,' said his father, Henke. 'Oscar's little feet were very ticklish. He used to curl up and cry laughing when you tickled them. Then you have to take the decision to have them cut off and thrown in the dustbin.' The athlete had been born with a congenital foot defect that meant he had no ankles, no calf bones and two toes on each foot.

Now 20, Pistorius took up running four years ago, after being injured in a rugby match, and is already a Paralympic champion and world record holder for 100m, 200m and 400m. In March, he won a silver medal at the South African 'non-disabled' championships.

Pistorius has achieved these marks wearing 'Cheetahs', carbon-fiber artificial legs, costing £15,000 a pair, which resemble sickle-shaped blades. Some feel that they give him an added advantage, in particular, by granting him an extended stride.

Pistorius counters by saying if this is the case then why, when he runs in a disabled 400m, are the other runners struggling to pass 300 meters as he crosses the finishing line. A good point, though evidence only of his superiority over his fellow disabled athletes.

Another concern is raised by the IAAF communications director, Nick Davies, is: 'If you don't have calf muscles or shins or feet, you obviously cannot have any lactic acid there, and therefore you cannot experience the problems of tiring that other athletes do because of it. If you've got a guy who reaches top speed in the 400m after 150m but then keeps it for the rest of the race that's wrong. No one does that in athletics. Not even Jeremy Wariner is capable of doing that.'

Pistorius argues: 'I have the same ratio of blood per muscles in my body as everyone else, and the only way you'd get less lactic acid would be if that ratio was less.'

The world governing body will be analyzing his performance this afternoon but such analysis is unlikely to provide a definitive answer as to whether the blades give Pistorius an unfair advantage and the question will almost certainly be determined by the courts.

It will be a hard case. Fairness dictates that Pistorius should be allowed to take his chance in the Olympics. However, should he do so the floodgates will be opened and uncertainty as to what is a legitimate prosthetic will be rampant. Given that the courts tend to favour what is certain over what is fair, he could have his work cut out.