'Blade Runner' Games ruling delay

(CNN) -- The world governing body for track and field has postponed its announcement on whether Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius, who runs on prosthetic limbs, can compete in this summer's Olympic Games, a spokesman said Thursday.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has been studying whether Pistorius' shock-absorbing carbon-fiber prosthetics, which have earned him the nickname "Blade Runner," give him an unfair advantage over able-bodied racers.

The IAAF completed its report December 19 and had planned to release its findings Thursday, but it delayed the announcement for at least several more days to give Pistorius more time to look over the report, said federation spokesman Nick Davies.

Pistorius, 21, won gold in the 200 meters and bronze in the 100 meters at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens. The South African holds the Paralympic world records in the 100, 200, and 400 meters.

He was born without fibulae in his legs and they were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old.

The IAAF does not prohibit prosthetic limbs in able-bodied sports, but it does ban technical aids. Davies said the IAAF simply wants to find out whether Pistorius' prostheses would violate that ban.

"Nobody seems to know what the science is with these blades," he said.

Pistorius competed in two able-bodied races last year -- one in Rome, where he finished second, and one in Sheffield, England, in which he finished last and was disqualified for stepping out of his lane.

The IAAF said that after the Italian race, evidence suggested an athlete with prosthetic limbs performed differently than an able-bodied athlete, and it agreed with Pistorius that more tests were needed.

In November, the IAAF funded scientific tests on Pistorius and his prostheses at the German Sport University in Cologne. Pistorius competed against six able-bodied athletes while researchers looked at his levels of blood lactate and oxygen and studied his movements.

Results from those tests were sent to the IAAF last month, but officials want Pistorius to examine them before they are released to the public, Davies said.

"When we received those, and their conclusions, we sent that to Oscar," Davies said. "He has everything but he has a right to discuss (with the IAAF) what's in that report, so that's what we're waiting for."

IAAF Rule 144.2 prohibits "use of any technical device that incorporates springs, wheels or any other element that provides the user with advantage over another athlete not using such a device," and "use of any appliance that has the effect of increasing the dimension of a piece of equipment beyond the permitted maximum in the rules." E-mail to a friend