From this I conclude that what Pistorius does when he runs is not comparable to able-bodied runners. Thus he should not be allowed to compete against able-bodied athletes at the Olympic Games. Name: form. Size: Format: PDF. Description: Permission Form Admin. Scientists are becoming entwined in a debate over whether Pistorius should be allowed to compete in the London Games. Pistorius was born without fibulas, one of the two long bones in the lower leg. He was unable to walk as a baby, and at 11 months old both of his legs were amputated below the knee.
But the growing child didn't let his disability slow him down. At age 12 he was playing rugby with the other boys, and in , at age 18, he ran the meter race in But should he be allowed to compete? The question seems preposterous. How could someone without lower legs possibly have an advantage over athletes with natural legs? The debate took a scientific turn in when a German team reported that Pistorius used 25 percent less energy than natural runners.
The Flex-Foot Cheetah has become the go-to running prosthetic for Paralympic and, potentially Olympic athletes. The Cheetah's carbon-fiber layers then rebound off the ground in response to the runner's strides. Pistorius hired Jeffrey Kessler, a high-powered lawyer who's represented athletes from the National Basketball Association and National Football League.
It soon became clear that the IAAF's study was very poorly designed, so when Pistorius's team asked for a new study they got it. Soon scientists gathered at Rice University to figure out just what was going on with Pistorius's body. The scientific team included Peter Weyand , a physiologist at Southern Methodist University who had the treadmills needed to measure the forces involved in sprinting. Rodger Kram , at the University of Colorado at Boulder, was a track and field fan who studied biomechanics.
Hugh Herr , a double amputee himself, was a renowned biophysicist. The trio, and other experts, measured Pistorius's oxygen consumption, his leg movements, the forces he exerted on the ground and his endurance. They also looked at leg-repositioning time—the amount of time it takes Pistorius to swing his leg from the back to the front.
After several months the team concluded in a paper for The Journal of Applied Physiology that Pistorius was "physiologically similar but mechanically dissimilar" to someone running with intact legs. He uses oxygen the same way natural-legged sprinters do, but he moves his body differently. The results of the Rice University study—physiologically similar, mechanically different—were presented to the Court of Arbitration for Sport CAS in Switzerland in , which decided that Pistorius should be allowed to run, revoking the IAAF's decision.
But what if he was born with the talent of a freak like Usain Bolt and was capable of running 41 seconds right now given the advantage of prosthetic technology? That's to say it's not just the fate of a specific athlete, namely Pistorius, that is at stake here, but the notion of a fair race between athletes.
When they line up in Daegu or London for the finals of the meters, I want to see the eight absolutely best athletes in the world in the blocks. As much as I hate to say something so callous, from birth Oscar Pistorius was destined to never be one of those eight. Today, technology is what gets Pistorius into an elite meter race. For me, in a true race, it would be the first thing that keeps him out. Enjoy our content?
Join our newsletter to get the latest in sports news delivered straight to your inbox! This is a human tragedy for the family of Reeva Steenkamp and also for Oscar Pistorius. But a promoter for the Brussels Diamond League event also told the BBC in September that Pistorius is unlikely to be welcome at future meets in the series. Disability Sport Calendar. Pistorius, nicknamed Blade Runner, has won six gold medals at three Paralympic Games Oscar Pistorius is unlikely to want to compete in Paralympic events again, according to the psychiatrist who assessed him during his trial for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
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