Pistorius must 'show respect'

The International Association of Athletics Federation has rejected criticisms from double amputee Oscar Pistorius, insisting the sprinter needs to "respect" the governing body.

Pistorius slammed the IAAF for mixed messages over his eligibility to run in the carbon cheetah blades he uses on both legs below the knees.

The 20-year-old from South Africa claims the governing body "stuffed up" his season after initially banning him for four weeks and then lifting it.

"The ban they implemented made me go back to a winter training schedule, but then four weeks ago when they lifted it I had to go back to a summer schedule, so it has stuffed up my season," he claimed.

But the IAAF insisted that he had not been banned. Spokesman Nick Davies said: "The fact is he's never been banned. What we did four weeks ago was not reinstate him, but actually clarify he wasn't banned, that he could run.

"We are giving him the benefit of the doubt by doing research on his blades. We've got nothing against disabled athletes."

The IAAF is currently probing whether Pistorius is receiving mechanical assistance from the blades, which have earned him the nickname 'Blade Runner'.

"What we are doing now is finding out if [his blades] do give him an advantage, in other words make him faster than he would have been as an able-bodied athlete," explained Davies.

Pistorius is aiming to compete in the Beijing Olympics next year and he competed against able-bodied athletes at the Rome Golden League meeting and in Sheffield at the weekend.

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