New Balance

The Beijing Olympics could have a different look from previous years. Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius won his appeal and can compete for a place in the summer games.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the 21-year-old South African is eligible to race against able-bodied athletes, overturning a ban imposed by the International Association of Athletics Federations.

"I am ecstatic," Pistorius told reporters. "When I found out, I cried. It is a battle that has been going on for far too long. It's a great day for sport. I think this day is going to go down in history for the equality of disabled people."

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.

Pistorius had appealed to the world sport's highest tribunal to overturn a January ruling by the IAAF that banned him from competing. The IAAF said his carbon fiber blades give him a mechanical advantage. A two-day hearing was held before a panel of three arbitrators at CAS headquarters last month. The IAAF based its January decision on studies by German professor Gert-Peter Brueggemann, who said the J-shaped "Cheetah" blades were energy efficient. Pistorius' lawyers countered with independent tests conducted by a team led by MIT professor Hugh M. Herr that claimed to show he doesn't gain any advantage over able-bodied runners. CAS said the IAAF failed to prove that Pistorius' running blades give him an advantage.

"The panel was not persuaded that there was sufficient evidence of any metabolic advantage in favor of a double-amputee using the Cheetah Flex-Foot," CAS said. "Furthermore, the CAS panel has considered that the IAAF did not prove that the biomechanical effects of using this particular prosthetic device gives Oscar Pistorius an advantage over other athletes not using the device."

The runner holds the 400-meter Paralympic world record of 46.56 seconds, but that time is outside the Olympic qualifying standard of 45.55. Even if Pistorius fails to get the qualifying time, South African selectors could add him to the 1,600-meter relay squad, which has six members. Pistorius would not require a qualifying time and could be taken to Beijing as an alternate.