Pistorius, often called “Blade Runner” or "the fastest thing on no legs" submitted to tests commissioned and paid for by the IAAF. He has carbon fibre blades attached to both his legs below the knee. He had hoped to compete in next year's Beijing Olympics against able-bodied athletes but after the IAAF report and Bruggeman's findings, his chances look remote.

“He has a considerable advantage compared with athletes without prosthetic limbs who have undergone the same tests,” Professor Peter Bruggemann said, in an interview before Pistorius had seen his report of the tests. “The difference is several percentage points and I did not think the findings would be so clear.

“His aerobic performance was worse, his anaerobic performance was the same. He could be in better shape. The fact that he still runs the same times as the other runners is due to his prosthetics. The prosthetics return 90 per cent of the impact energy, compared to the 60 per cent of the human foot.”

Bruggemann, the director of the Institute of Biomechanics at the German Sports University in Cologne, last month conducted private tests on Pistorius and six able-bodied athletes who had similar 400-metre times. The IAAF received Bruggemann’s report in mid December and Pistorius became aware of the results on receiving an e-mail with them attached.

Bruggemann suggested that the way Pistorius runs is different from able-bodied athletes. “It looks good, smooth, somehow elegant [when Pistorius runs],” Bruggemann said. “It’s a totally different kind of movement. He was incredibly co-operative and open. I think most of all he wants to be better and faster. If he continues to improve his stamina, I could imagine him breaking the non-disabled world record over 800 metres.”

Pistorius will have been shocked by the disclosure of the results because he was not expecting any public announcements until the new year at the earliest. “The IAAF does not plan to discuss the contents of the report, or make any public announcement about any decision related to the report, until January 10, 2008,” it said in a statement. The IAAF has not come to an official verdict, but the decision of the council will be based on Bruggemann’s report, so that seems academic.

Pistorius, 21, was born without fibula muscles and his legs were amputated below the knee at 11 months old. He has said that he would stop running in able-bodied competition if the tests proved that his carbon-fibre blades — called “Cheetahs” by Ossur, the manufacturer — gave him an edge. But he did not expect the tests to go against him, saying that if they did, he would seek a second opinion from another set of independent tests.

In December The Helen Rollason Award for outstanding achievement in the face of adversity, was presented to Oscar Pistorius.