"I feel that it is my responsibility, on behalf of myself and all other disabled athletes, to stand firmly and not allow one organization to inhibit our ability to compete using the very tools without which we simply cannot walk, let alone run," Pistorius said. "I will not stand down."

The IAAF postponed until Monday its decision on whether the 21-year-old South African can compete in Beijing. The federation is widely expected to rule that Pistorius is ineligible because he gets a mechanical advantage from his racing blades.

German professor Gert-Peter Brueggemann, who conducted tests on the prosthetic limbs, said they give him a clear edge over able-bodied runners.

But Pistorius said he was "even more resolute" in his belief that the "Cheetah" limbs to do not give him any competitive boost.

"Should the IAAF elect to use this information to ban me from competing in IAAF sanctioned events, I will appeal this decision at the highest levels, while also continuing with my quest to race in the Paralympic Games and hopefully the Olympic Games," he said at a news conference.

The ruling by the International Association of Athletics Federations was first expected on Thursday but was postponed for a second time until Monday.

The IAAF received a letter from Pistorius commenting on the Brueggemann study and IAAF president Lamine Diack and the 27-member IAAF Council will assess both the letter and the study over the weekend before announcing its decision.

"It is my hope that the IAAF will congratulate me and welcome me to the Olympic stage, thereby living up to its credo to 'encourage participation in athletics at all levels throughout the world regardless of age, gender or race, for I am one of those persons, too," Pistorius said.

IAAF spokesman Nick Davies said Pistorius' plans to appeal a ban would not be taken into consideration.

"It doesn't change anything for us," Davies said in a telephone interview. "We will still make an announcement on Monday. ... Whatever he did, we still have our own procedure — to contact the Council, to look at the report, details, the letter from Pistorius and make a decision."

Pistorius's manager, Peet van Zyl, said he could take the case as far as the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. If Pistorius is banned from the Beijing Games, he will continue fighting for inclusion at future Olympics, van Zyl said.

"Hopefully by 2012 in London, he will be on South Africa's Olympic team," he said.

Pistorius worked with Brueggemann in Cologne over two days of testing in November to see to what extent the j-shaped carbon-fiber "Cheetah" extensions to his amputated legs differed from the legs of fully-abled runners.

Brueggemann told Die Welt newspaper last month that, based on his research, Pistorius "has considerable advantages over athletes without prosthetic limbs who were tested by us."

"It was more than just a few percentage points. I did not expect it to be so clear," he added.

Brueggemann and his scientists tested Pistorius' energy consumption and compared it with data of able-bodied 400-meter runners of the same speed.

Pistorius said he was disturbed that Brueggemann had spoken of the results before he had received them himself and "can only wonder as to his motivation and who facilitated this action."

"While I appreciate the consideration and the expense that the IAAF has taken upon itself to evaluate my case, the experts I have spoken with believe that the data that has been collected from the testing considers too few of the variables that need to be examined to make a decision of this magnitude," Pistorius said.

Ossur, the Icelandic company that manufactures Pistorius' blades, said the testing commissioned by the IAAF was incomplete and inconclusive and that aspects of Brueggemann's results needed further investigation.

"Any judgment against Pistorius at this stage and based on insufficient information, would be irresponsible and unfair," the company said in a statement.

The IAAF adopted a rule last summer prohibiting the use of any "technical aids" deemed to give an athlete an advantage over another.

Pistorius has set world records in the 100, 200 and 400 in Paralympic events. To make the Olympics in Beijing, Pistorius would still need to qualify for the South African team and make the qualifying times.

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 — nicknamed the "Blade Runner" — 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.

———