Oscar Pistorius: Previously confidential study results released on ampute...( Dallas TX (June 29 2009) -- A team o...)

Dallas, TX (June 29, 2009) -- A team of experts in biomechanics and physiology that conducted experiments on Oscar Pistorius, the South African bilateral amputee track athlete, have just published their findings in the Journal of Applied Physiology. Some of their previously confidential findings were presented to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland in May of 2008. Other findings are now being released for the first time.

A portion of the team's findings had been presented at the CAS to appeal the eligibility ban that had been imposed on Pistorius by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) barring him from sanctioned competitions, including the Olympics and World Championships.

The IAAF had claimed that the Cheetah Flex-Foot prostheses (J-shaped, high-performance prostheses used for running) worn by Pistorius give him an advantage over able-bodied runners.

The appeal was successfully presented on behalf of Pistorius by the international law firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf, who took the case on a pro-bono basis. The CAS concluded that the IAAF failed to prove that the biomechanical effects of the Cheetah prostheses give Pistorius an advantage over other athletes not using the prostheses.

The authors of the study are Peter Weyand of Southern Methodist University, Matthew Bundle of the University of Wyoming, Craig McGowan of the University of Texas at Austin, Alena Grabowski and Hugh Herr of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mary Beth Brown of Georgia Institute of Technology and Rodger Kram of the University of Colorado at Boulder. None of the authors received compensation for the research or work on behalf of the CAS hearing. The group agreed to conduct the experiments with the understanding that they would be able to publish their scientific findings after the CAS ruling.

The experiments were conducted at the Locomotion Laboratory of Rice University in H
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