Man with no legs to run in the Olympics

[stevenl]

  Pistorius' victory is inspirational -- and controversial - David Epstein - SI.com

 

[KCK_Halo]

* Pistorius' victory is inspirational -- and controversial - David Epstein - SI.com

Isn't it purely amazing that someone with artificial limbs can be considered to have an advantage over others? My, we've come a long way scientifically.

 

[Ramy]

But he does have an advantage. His legs weigh less and have an extra spring to them to make him go faster. Have you seen the videos of him racing other people? He blows them away.

 

[Fitzie]

But he does have an advantage. His legs weigh less and have an extra spring to them to make him go faster. Have you seen the videos of him racing other people? He blows them away.

Yeah, Ramy's right about that. If the guy wins all the heats, and the gold medal, will other runners have the right to put racing springs on their own legs? Just to even things up, cause those springs he wears makes him seriously fast. He might win the next 3 or four gold medals in the 100 and 200 yard (meter?) sprints. What if the guy had no legs at all? Could he mount a motorcycle wheel to his trunk, and put a jet motor on his back to power it?

This is just rediculous.

fitzie

 

[stevenl]

The guy is not that fast. He has not even qualified for the Olympics he still has to shave off about 1/4 sec off his time to Qualify to run on his own.

 

[Paul Wozniak]

I thought the "Special Olympics" were for people like him.

 

[jerseyfla]

I thought the "Special Olympics" were for people like him.

No that's the Paralympics. The Special Olympics is for the mentally handicapped but I'm sure we are not far away from a Special Olympian trying to qualify for the "real" Olympics

 

[jgags6]

good for him!

 

[Derwin0]

But he does have an advantage. His legs weigh less and have an extra spring to them to make him go faster. Have you seen the videos of him racing other people? He blows them away.

I agree. If he's going to wear prosthetics, then they should be modeled to weigh and move the same as normal limbs. Not be "springy".
Same as when they didn't let a girl swim in a meet several years ago because her prosthetic had a flipper on it. They let her swim, but the flipper had to be removed, she refused to remove it and thus didn't swim.

 

[HD MM]

I think it's fair to say that while Oscar "Blade Runner" Pistorius is eligible to compete in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, he still has to try and qualify for the South African team.

The official ruling on Pistorius' case by the International Association of Athletics Federations.......

On 16 May 2008, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reversed the IAAF's ban, clearing the way for Pistorius to try and qualify for the Olympics. In its decision, it held that there was insufficient evidence that Pistorius's prosthetics provided any metabolic advantage over able-bodied runners. A major component of the Court's decision was that the prosthetics do not provide an overall advantage to Pistorius, in comparison to other runners, when their disadvantages are taken into account. They concluded the IAAF decision did not adequately take into account all of the various advantages and disadvantages over the course of the entire race, such as Pistorius's slower starts.

^Good enough for me. Let the man run.......

 

[Paul Wozniak]

No that's the Paralympics. The Special Olympics is for the mentally handicapped but I'm sure we are not far away from a Special Olympian trying to qualify for the "real" Olympics

Thank you for that correction.