BRUSSELS, Jan 14: The IAAF ruled on Monday that double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius is ineligible to compete in the Beijing Olympics because his prosthetic racing blades give him a clear competitive advantage.

The International Association of Athletics Federations had twice postponed the ruling, but the executive Council said the South African runner's curved, prosthetic “Cheetah” blades were considered a technical aid in violation of the rules.

“As a result, Oscar Pistorius is ineligible to compete in competitions organized under IAAF Rules,” the IAAF said in a statement from Monte Carlo, Monaco.

Pistorius, known as the “blade runner,” announced last week that he planned to appeal any adverse decision, including taking the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.

“The natural feeling from our side would be to appeal the verdict and see what avenues we can take forward,” the runner's agent, Peet van Zyl, told the BBC after Monday's verdict. “Oscar wants to prove that he isn't getting an advantage.”The decision was reached in an e-mail vote by the 27-member IAAF Council. The vote count was not disclosed but was believed to be unanimous.

The IAAF endorsed studies by German professor Gert-Peter Brueggemann, who conducted tests on the prosthetic limbs and said they give Pistorius a clear competitive advantage over able-bodied runners.

“An athlete using this prosthetic blade has a demonstrable mechanical advantage (more than 30 percent) when compared to someone not using the blade,” the IAAF said.

The federation said Pistorius had been allowed to compete in some able-bodied events until now because his case was so unique that such artificial protheses had not been properly studied.

“We did not have the science,” IAAF spokesman Nick Davies said. “Now we have the science. We are only interested in competitions that we govern.”

Davies stressed the findings only covered Pistorius' specific blades and did not necessarily mean that all lesser abled athletes would automatically be excluded.

The ruling does not affect Pistorius' eligibility for Paralympic events, in which he was a gold medalist in Athens in 2004. It remained unclear to what extent he would be able to continue running in local races in South Africa.

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.

He began running competitively four years ago to treat a rugby injury, and nine months later won the 200 meters at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens.

Pistorius competed in the 400 at two international-level able-bodied meets in 2007. He finished second in a B race in 46.90 seconds at the Golden League meet in Rome on July 13 and, two days later, was disqualified for running out of his lane in Sheffield, England.—AP