A South African double amputee has been cleared to run in the Beijing Olympics with prosthetic legs which could propel him to victory. Oscar Pistorius, who was born without bones in his lower legs, said: “It's a great day for sport. I think this day is going to go down in history for the equality of disabled people."

His request to participate had been turned down by International Association of Athletics Federations, but this was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport earlier this month (with the help of 11 lawyers). The Association feared that his high-tech “Cheetah blades” would give him an unfair advantage in his events, the 400-metre or the 1600 metre relay. Pistorius may not make the team, but he is certainly a contender: his best time is just over a second slower than the qualifying time for the South African 400-metre event.

It is hard to know what to make of this. Some saluted the admirable courage and optimism of Pistorius, but others had misgivings. It is clearly a landmark decision which will affect the future of sport. Artificial enhancement of athletic prowess – mechanical, pharmacological, or genetic – is emerging as a major issue. If a runner can use artificial legs, what other aids will become acceptable?

Bioethicist Arthur Caplan felt that new technology could destroy the sport. “It may be fascinating to see who can go the fastest on rocket-powered legs or throw a heavy weight the farthest using performance-enhancing drugs, or genetically engineered muscles. But what you have then is an exhibition or a show, not a sport... To be a sport you need something approximating a fair playing field, some boundaries on the attributes of those who compete so they are comparable to one another and some ability to compare today’s performance with those in the not-so-distant past.”

But others argue that technological progress is inevitable and should not be stopped. What’s certain is that we have not heard the last word on enhanced sportsmen. ~ MSNBC, May 22; Times (South Africa), May 20