You knew the IAAF was on shaky ground when it suggested Oscar Pistorius affected the purity of the sport. Given that the biggest athletics stories of recent times have concerned a bunch of liars and cheats, the cynical response is to suggest a trailblazing disabled athlete is actually a purifying presence.

Similarly unwise was the suggestion that Pistorius, who has been called the Fastest Thing On No Legs and the Blade Runner, gained an unfair advantage from his carbon-fibre blades. Regardless of the science, the phraseology used was unsympathetic at best and crass at worst.

So good luck to Pistorius. I am surprised that the Court of Arbitration for Sport sided with him because it seemed the IAAF research had presented an open and shut case. Without getting too technical their tests, conducted in Germany last year, found that Pistorius did not suffer the same sort of energy loss as able-bodied athletes.

Now they are publicly welcoming Pistorius and even calling him an inspiration. That is a far cry from last year when Elio Locatelli, the IAAF director of development, said: "Next there will be a device where people can fly with something on their back."

Indeed, last summer the debate got so personal that Pistorius slammed the IAAF, asking why they were'nt working with him. "My job is to perform on the track and their job is to be a professional federation," he said. "But they're going about this like an FBI undercover investigation." Pistorius, in turn, was told to calm down.

The problem is that, whatever the emotive arguments for his inclusion, Pistorius does run differently, and not just in the obvious sense of having blades where others' legs are. He starts terribly because it is hard to get the Cheetah prosthetics goings, but finishes strongly. Over the course of a race this is similar to your average runner, but problems loom for a sport already beset by them.

It is fantastic that a disabled athlete is pushing the issues into the public consciousness, but freedom to run in the Olympics will surely spark a technological race between rival designers. Would those who welcome Pistorius be happy if we got to the stage where all eight Olympic finalists in the 100 metres had no legs? And let's not pretend that some will most certainly seek an unfair advantage from this ruling - it might not be touchy-feely, but Paralympians cheat too. These are sensitive issues. Side against Pistorius and you are damned as a bigot, while his times for the 400m show that any advantage gained is not enough to gain an Olympic qualifier.

The subject needs much more analysis and study before green or red lights are shown, but the enduring problem is the impossibility to pretend an inclusive playing field is level.