It's now a matter of times

Pistorius racing against clock in bid for Beijing

The Blade Runner most likely will have to wait until 2012 to make his Olympic debut.

Oscar Pistorius, the South African double amputee whose right to run in the Games was upheld last week by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, has to trim nearly a second from his best time in less than two months to meet the qualifying standard for the 400 meters. That's a lot of ground, the 21-year-old student acknowledges. And while he can compete on the 4 x 400 relay without a qualifying time, the South Africans are on the bubble, tied for the last of the 16th entry spots with Nigeria.

Pistorius's personal best (46.33) would rank third among his countrymen this year.

"It's always been a dream to compete in the Olympics," said Pistorius, who'll be in Beijing for the Paralympics in any case. "But if I look back at my career and I haven't participated, it will still be a dream satisfied."

Still, the CAS decision, which overturned the international track and field federation's ban, was a huge victory for Pistorius, who'd argued all along that his carbon fiber Cheetah Flex-Foot prostheses didn't give him an advantage over rivals. What CAS concluded was that they didn't give Pistorius an "overall net advantage." While the blades clearly help him run "flatter" along the straightaways, he's slower at the start and during the acceleration phase.

Pistorius's case was buttressed by a study submitted by biomechanics and physiology experts from six universities, headed by MIT professor Hugh Herr, himself a double amputee, which found that he had no unfair edge. While the decision was hailed as a breakthrough for disabled athletes, the court was careful to make clear that it applies only to Pistorius and only to the current "Cheetah" design.

While IAAF president Lamine Diack called Pistorius an "inspirational man" and said he would be welcomed wherever he competes this summer, the federation did everything it could to stop him. As part of what CAS called an "impression of prejudgment," the IAAF's tests focused only on portions of the race where Pistorius ran fastest. Its council members, who received documents on a Friday, had to vote by Monday morning, and the federation said it would consider abstentions as a vote to ban.

"The history of this matter is remarkable," CAS declared, "and possibly without precedent."

A Russian comeback

The overtime victory by the Russian men's ice hockey team over the Canadians in Quebec Sunday marked only the second time they've won the world title since the breakup of the Soviet Union, which won 20 between 1963 and 1990. "God was on our side a little more than theirs," said Ilya Kovalchuk, who scored the winner on a four-on-three power play after his mates had come from two goals down in the third period. Had the Canadians prevailed, it would have been their fourth crown in six years. For the Americans, who finished sixth after losing to the Finns in overtime in the quarterfinals, it was the seventh time in nine years they failed to reach the medal round. The US, which will be grouped with Sweden, Latvia, and Austria in next year's tournament in Switzerland, drew host Canada, Switzerland, and a qualifier for the next Olympics . . . Monster weekend for swimmer Michael Phelps, who won five races at the Santa Clara Invitational, three of them in less than an hour Sunday. "That was a great triple he did," saluted Aaron Peirsol after Phelps won the 100-meter freestyle, the 200 individual medley, and the 100 backstroke, beating Peirsol for the first time in a dorsal event. Phelps had come within a fingernail of doing it twice, finishing second in the 200 back by three-hundredths of a second. Meanwhile, North Easton native Erik Vendt won the 1,500 by a whopping 15 seconds in 14:46.78, breaking his US Open record, while 15-year-old Elizabeth Beisel of Saunderstown, R.I., won the 200 back and 400 IM.

Still afloat

Headed to Poland next month for the last-chance Olympic qualifying regatta in rowing are sculler Ken Jurkowski and the lightweight doubles of Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg/Cody Lowry and Renee Hykel/Jen Goldsack, who won last weekend's US trials in New Jersey. Jurkowski needs to finish in the top three to earn his Beijing ticket, with the doubles needing to be in the top two . . . Melanie Roach, the 33-year-old former gymnast and mother of three who took five years off after a back injury kept her out of the 2000 weightlifting trials, made the women's squad for Beijing, along with three-timer Cheryl Haworth, Natalie Woolfolk, and Carissa Gump of Essex Junction, Vt. On the men's team are Casey Burgener, Chad Vaughn, and Kendrick Farris . . . Up next for the US women's soccer team is next month's Peace Queen Cup in South Korea, where they'll meet the Brazilians for the first time since their blowout loss in last year's World Cup semifinals. Hope Solo, who ripped then-coach Greg Ryan for starting Briana Scurry in her place, is back as regular goalkeeper, starting nine of this year's 14 matches. "The bottom line is, we need goalkeepers and Hope is a good goalkeeper," says coach Pia Sundhage, who also has used Scurry. Captain Christie Rampone, on the mend after having her gallbladder removed, should be back for the tournament, in which the Americans also will meet Australia and Italy in the prelims . . . Good Olympic draw for the US gymnastics teams, who will have only one other medal contender (the Italian women) in their preliminary groups. The world-champion women also drew Great Britain and Japan. The men, who just missed the podium last year, drew Italy, Spain, and three mixed groups (i.e., athletes whose teams didn't qualify).

Lineup decision

Though there's an outside chance that a college player will be named to the US Olympic baseball team when the roster is announced in July, the squad will be chosen almost entirely from the minor leagues. "We want to pick the players that are playing the best and hot right now," said general manager Bob Watson, who'll be picking likely September callups, the "28-to-40" guys. The Americans didn't qualify last time after winning gold in 2000. "I've got my marching orders," said Watson. "We better win." . . . The US figure skating championships, which played to record-breaking crowds last year in Spokane, are headed back there for 2010, where the Olympic team will be chosen for Vancouver. "The fans were absolutely incredible," said Evan Lysacek, who won his first men's title there. "Everywhere we went, people were talking about skating. We felt like rock stars." This time, though, the event will be stretched to 11 days, with the four finals (men/pairs, women/dance) split over two weekends to accommodate TV. That could be a budget-buster for the loyal skating fans, who tend to stay for the entire event . . . Making the Olympic team in her second sport is triathlete Julie Swail Ertel, who captained the US women's water polo team that won the silver medal in 2000. Ertel qualified by winning last month's trials in Alabama, as did new citizen Matt Reed, a New Zealand emigre who will compete against brother Shane in Beijing. With Sudbury native Jarrod Shoemaker and Laura Bennett, having qualified last year, the final spots will be determined at next month's Hy-Vee Triathlon in Iowa. Based on their performances in the two previous qualifying events, Athens veterans Hunter Kemper and Andy Potts have the best chances on the men's side, and Sarah Groff on the women's.

On the same page

The new international basketball rules - changing the shape of the lane from a trapezoid to a rectangle and moving the 3-point arc from 6.25 meters to 6.75 - are part of the global federation's goal to have one set of rules for everybody. Since the NBA and the Olympic worlds become more blended every year, standardization makes sense. FIBA is taking its sweet time, though; the changes won't take effect until after the next world championships in 2010 . . . Rough Olympic draw for the top-seeded US women's water polo team, which comes in as global champion. It is grouped with Athens gold medalist Italy, global bronze medalist Russia, and the host Chinese. The men, ninth at last year's world tournament, drew world champion Croatia, Olympic runner-up Serbia, Italy, Germany, and China.

Material from Olympic committees, sports federations, interviews, and wire services was used in this report.