ATHLETICS:Double amputee Oscar Pistorius claims a new scientific investigation has produced "completely different" results to those that saw him banned from competing against able-bodied athletes by the International Association of Athletics Federation.
The IAAF announced their decision in January after studying the findings of a two-day independent study in November 2007 which found that the South African's 'cheetah' blades gave him a clear advantage.
Last month Pistorius - nicknamed 'Blade Runner' - launched an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the IAAF's ruling with the decision due on March 25th. The IAAF's ruling prompted the 21-year-old undergo fresh tests in the USA and Germany. The results restored Pistorius' optimism that he may be able to run at the Beijing Olympics although he would have little time to get the qualifying time.
"We've done tests in Houston, they re-did the tests they did in Germany and the results were completely different," Pistorius said
"We're very optimistic. I'm really excited for the outcome. I am still hoping that I can make the cut-off to qualify for the Olympic Games but time is tight and I only have until mid-June I think and I haven't had any able-bodied races."
O'Loughlin in second place
CYCLING:David O'Loughlin bounced back from a crash and mechanical problems on Tuesday to take a fine second place in yesterday's stage two of the Giro del Capo in South Africa. The Team Pezula rider crossed the line in the same time as the day's winner Michael Mørkøv (Danish National Team), the duo finishing seven seconds ahead of Shaun Davel (Pro Mr Price WP).
Due to his problems during the stage, O'Loughlin had finished 16 minutes behind the stage winner on day one.
He showed strong character in pulling out a good ride yesterday, scoring highly in the king of the mountains classification and ending the day second overall in that classification. He is also fourth in the points standings.
Team-mate Ciarán Power is best of the team overall in a fine eighth place, the Waterford rider having finished 11th on stage one and ninth on stage two.
Murray stretched by Verdasco
TENNIS:Andy Murray earned a tortured 6-3 3-6 7-6 victory over Fernando Verdasco to reach the quarter-finals of the Dubai Championships yesterday. Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic was also stretched before the third seeded Serbian beat Fabrice Santoro of France 6-3 7-6, but Rafael Nadal coasted to a 6-4 6-0 win over Russian qualifier Mikhail Ledovskikh.
Anyone expecting Murray to sail past the Spanish left-hander after he had earlier beaten Roger Federer was disappointed.
The Briton had to battle both the wind and an adventurous opponent for almost two and a half hours before securing victory on his fourth match point.
Wherley the oldest rower
ROWING:Former US rowing champion Michael Wherley will become the oldest rower to take part in the Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race when he competes for Oxford later this month.
A triple world champion in the Men's Eight, Wherley will be 36 when Britain's oldest universities meet for the 154th time on the Thames on March 29th.
Wherley, who competed in both the Sydney and Athens Olympics and is also a seven-time US national champion, said yesterday he was not quite at his physical peak. However, he put this down to a lack of sleep and a three-year break from competing rather than to his age.
"Sometimes it's just harder to recover from the training, but it's not necessarily harder to do it," he said as he prepared for the annual four-and-a-quarter mile (6.8-km) race. "There are definitely more days when you don't want to be at the boathouse. Any athlete who's been around for a long time will tell you that," he said.
Pakistan tour in doubt
CRICKET:Australia are likely to decide in the next few days whether to proceed with this month's tour of Pakistan, both parties said yesterday.
"The Australian authorities have today been briefed by their foreign ministry on the (security) situation in Pakistan," Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi said. "I think we should know in one or two days' time. The indications are they (Cricket Australia) will decide after they have a board meeting."
Peter Young, Cricket Australia's public relations manager, said the decision might take a little longer than 48 hours. "We will be talking to our board in the next few days," said Young. "We would like to make a final decision soon as the tour is due to start on March 29th."
The world's top-ranked team have already cut the tour back to two tests and four one-dayers.
Easy for Serena
TENNIS:American world number 11 Serena Williams warmed up after a month-long break by beating Israeli Tzipora Obziler 7-5 6-0 at the Bangalore Open yesterday.
The former world number one, who was given a first-round bye, advanced to the quarter-finals but was far from her dominant self in the opening set of her second-round victory.
