By Chris Lehourites

London - A new study on the prosthetic legs of double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius shows that the South African's artificial limbs give him a 10-second advantage over a 400-meter race.

Human performance researchers Peter Weyand of Southern Methodist University and Matthew Bundle of the University of Wyoming say that Pistorius, who has been cleared to compete against able-bodied runners, runs the 400 distance 10 seconds faster than he would if his prosthetic limbs behaved like normal legs.

Their conclusion will be published Thursday in the Journal of Applied Physiology. - Sapa-AP