Pistorius vindicated in "long legs" claim

by Linda Moreotsene, NewAge

Gold medallist Alan Oliveira has conceded that his blades gave him an edge over Oscar Pistrorius in his disputed 200m Paralympic win.

In what seemed like sour grapes, Pistorius complained about the length of Oliveira's blades after he was pipped at the finishing line. In a turn of events, Oscar Pistorius yesterday received support following his embarassing public outburst when he lost the 200m T44 final race for the first time in nine years on Sunday.

Surprisingly, gold medallist Alan Oliveira who handed Pistorius the first defeat of his career in this event, admitted to British media that he had gained a one second advantage from his racing blades, which he only started using three weeks ago.

Oliveira confirmed that he had adopted the "longer legs", which increased his racing height from 1.76m to 1.81m, three weeks ago. He won the event in 21.45 seconds, with Pistorius coming in second in 21.52 seconds.

Internationally renowned sports science professor, Dr Tim Noakes, also backed claims by the "Blade Runner". Noakes said the length of the prosthetics played a significant factor in deciding the results of the final. "Yes, I believe that technology had a big influence in the results of that race. "Oscar does have a valid point because the length of the protheses impact performance, up to a certain extent. "Although I do not necessarily agree with how he did it, I think Oscar is quite right to raise the issue," Noakes said.

Pistorius has been widely labelled a bad loser for claiming that Oliveira had an unfair advantage in the race in a post race interview. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) also told reporters yesterday that no action would be taken against the South African for questioning the legitimacy of his loss. "there will be no disciplanry action against Oscar for his comments," said IPC director of communications Craig Spence.

The IPC ruled that 20 year old Oliveria could run using 1.85m blades while Pistorius us allowed a maximum height of 1.93m. "I think the length should be standardised and I also think the concerns that have also been raised by single amputees are quite valid too. It is key that everyone knows what the rules are" said Noakes.