JULY 18 - DOUBLE-AMPUTEE sprinter Oscar Pistorius (pictured) will not compete for South Africa against able-bodied athletes at the Beijing Olympics after failing to make their relay team, it was announced today.

 

Pistorius, who in May won the right to compete against able-bodied athletes in an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), failed to meet the qualifying standard in the 400 metre.

 

He had hoped to be chosen for the 4x400m squad but he was not picked.

 

Athletics South Africa president Leonard Chuene said four other runners had faster times, and two others were chosen as reserves.

 

Pistorius battled the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) for the right to run.

 

In May, the CAS ruled against the IAAF, saying his carbon fiber prosthetic blades did not provide an unfair advantage against able-bodied athletes.

 

But Pistorius fell short of the 400 qualifying time of 45.55sec, despite running a personal best 46.25 on Wednesday at a meet in Lucerne.

 

The 21-year-old Pistorius, who said his legal battles prevented him from focusing on training, had acknowledged it might be more realistic to aim for the 2012 London Olympics.

 

Pistorius plans to run at the Paralympic Games in Beijing in September.

 

He holds the Paralympic world record of 46.56 in the 400.

 

Pistorius' manager, Peet Van Zyl, said considering Pistorius' recent times, he did not expect the runner to be asked to join the team.

 

He said: "From the beginning, we knew that he had to qualify.

 

"We didn't expect him to be granted any special opportunity or anything.

 

"The rules are the rules."

 

The IAAF said Thursday that it fully supported Pistorius' bid to run at the Olympics, despite comments made earlier this week by general secretary Pierre Weiss.

 

He expressed concerns that the blade-like prosthetics could cause injury to other runners while jockeying for position.

 

The comments "have no effect on the official eligibility of Oscar Pistorius, nor should they be misconstrued as a personal attack on Oscar," the IAAF said in a statement.

 

On Wednesday, the New York legal firm of Dewey and Leboeuf, which represents Pistorius, had threatened legal action against the IAAF, demanding that it withdraw a statement that the body did not have the resources to check the legality of Pistorius' blades each time he ran.

 

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.