Saw this, thought it might interest a few of you. I say let him go, no way he has an advantage.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/fastest-man-on-no-legs-has-olympics-in-his-sights/2007/05/17/1178995323878.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
Edit- His name is Pistorius...snigger snigger snigger
AS OSCAR Pistorius of South Africa crouched in the starting blocks for the 200 metres, the small crowd turned its attention to the sprinter who calls himself the fastest man on no legs.
He wants to be the first amputee runner to compete in the Olympics. And he is forcing international track officials to confront whether the technology of his prosthetics gives him an unfair advantage over sprinters using their natural legs.
His first strides on Sunday were choppy, a necessary accommodation to sprinting on a pair of J-shaped blades made of carbon fibre. Pistorius was born without the fibula bone in his lower legs and with other defects in his feet. He had both legs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old. At 20, his coach says, he is like a five-speed engine with no second gear.
Pistorius is also a searing talent who has begun erasing the lines between abled and disabled, raising philosophical questions: what should an athlete look like? Where should limits be placed on technology to balance fair play with the right to compete? Would the nature of sport be altered if athletes using artificial limbs could run faster or jump higher than the best athletes using their natural limbs?
Once at full speed on Sunday, Pistorius handily won the 100 and 200 metres at the Paralympic World Cup, an international competition for athletes with disabilities. A cold, rainy afternoon tempered his performances, but his wins came decisively and kept him aimed towards the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, even though athletics' world governing body is seeking to ban him.
Since March, Pistorius has delivered record performances at 100 metres (10.91 seconds), 200m (21.58s) and 400m (46.34s). Those times do not yet meet Olympic qualifying standards for men, but the Beijing Games are 15 months away. Already, Pistorius is fast enough that his marks would have won gold medals in the women's races at the Athens Olympics.
Pistorius' time of 46.56 seconds in the 400 brought a stunning second-place finish in March against able-bodied runners at the South African national championships. This seemingly makes him a candidate for the Olympic 4 x 400-metre relay should South Africa qualify as one of the world's 16 fastest teams.
"I don't see myself as disabled," said the blond, spiky-haired Pistorius, a former rugby and water polo player who declines even to park in spaces reserved for the disabled. "There's nothing I can't do that able-bodied athletes can do."
Still, the question persists: do prosthetic legs simply level the playing field for Pistorius, compensating for his disability, or do they give him an inequitable edge via what some call techno-doping?
The answer is uncertain. Experts say there have been only limited studies conducted on the biomechanics of amputee runners, especially those missing both legs. And because Pistorius lost his legs as an infant, his speed on carbon-fibre legs cannot be compared with his speed on natural legs.
Track and field's world governing body, based in Monaco and known by its initials as the IAAF, has recently prohibited the use of technological aids like springs and wheels, disqualifying Pistorius from events that it sanctions. A final ruling is expected in August.
The International Olympic Committee allows governing bodies to make their own eligibility rules, though it can intervene. Since 2004, for example, transgender athletes have been allowed to compete in the Olympics.
"With all due respect, we cannot accept something that provides advantages," said Elio Locatelli of Italy, the director of development for the IAAF, urging Pistorius to concentrate on the Paralympics that will follow the Olympics in Beijing. "It affects the purity of sport. Next will be another device where people can fly with something on their back."
Others have questioned the governing body's motivation. "I pose a question" for the IAAF, said Robert Gailey at the University of Miami Medical School who has studied amputee runners. "Are they looking at not having an unfair advantage? Or are they discriminating because of the purity of the Olympics, because they don't want to see a disabled man line up against an able-bodied man for fear that if the person who doesn't have the perfect body wins, what does that say about the image of man?"
According to Gailey, a prosthetic leg provides only about 80 per cent energy return to a runner, compared with up to 240 per cent energy return provided by a natural leg. "There is no science that he has an advantage, only that he is competing at a disadvantage," Gailey said.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/fastest-man-on-no-legs-has-olympics-in-his-sights/2007/05/17/1178995323878.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
Edit- His name is Pistorius...snigger snigger snigger
AS OSCAR Pistorius of South Africa crouched in the starting blocks for the 200 metres, the small crowd turned its attention to the sprinter who calls himself the fastest man on no legs.
He wants to be the first amputee runner to compete in the Olympics. And he is forcing international track officials to confront whether the technology of his prosthetics gives him an unfair advantage over sprinters using their natural legs.
His first strides on Sunday were choppy, a necessary accommodation to sprinting on a pair of J-shaped blades made of carbon fibre. Pistorius was born without the fibula bone in his lower legs and with other defects in his feet. He had both legs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old. At 20, his coach says, he is like a five-speed engine with no second gear.
Pistorius is also a searing talent who has begun erasing the lines between abled and disabled, raising philosophical questions: what should an athlete look like? Where should limits be placed on technology to balance fair play with the right to compete? Would the nature of sport be altered if athletes using artificial limbs could run faster or jump higher than the best athletes using their natural limbs?
Once at full speed on Sunday, Pistorius handily won the 100 and 200 metres at the Paralympic World Cup, an international competition for athletes with disabilities. A cold, rainy afternoon tempered his performances, but his wins came decisively and kept him aimed towards the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, even though athletics' world governing body is seeking to ban him.
Since March, Pistorius has delivered record performances at 100 metres (10.91 seconds), 200m (21.58s) and 400m (46.34s). Those times do not yet meet Olympic qualifying standards for men, but the Beijing Games are 15 months away. Already, Pistorius is fast enough that his marks would have won gold medals in the women's races at the Athens Olympics.
Pistorius' time of 46.56 seconds in the 400 brought a stunning second-place finish in March against able-bodied runners at the South African national championships. This seemingly makes him a candidate for the Olympic 4 x 400-metre relay should South Africa qualify as one of the world's 16 fastest teams.
"I don't see myself as disabled," said the blond, spiky-haired Pistorius, a former rugby and water polo player who declines even to park in spaces reserved for the disabled. "There's nothing I can't do that able-bodied athletes can do."
Still, the question persists: do prosthetic legs simply level the playing field for Pistorius, compensating for his disability, or do they give him an inequitable edge via what some call techno-doping?
The answer is uncertain. Experts say there have been only limited studies conducted on the biomechanics of amputee runners, especially those missing both legs. And because Pistorius lost his legs as an infant, his speed on carbon-fibre legs cannot be compared with his speed on natural legs.
Track and field's world governing body, based in Monaco and known by its initials as the IAAF, has recently prohibited the use of technological aids like springs and wheels, disqualifying Pistorius from events that it sanctions. A final ruling is expected in August.
The International Olympic Committee allows governing bodies to make their own eligibility rules, though it can intervene. Since 2004, for example, transgender athletes have been allowed to compete in the Olympics.
"With all due respect, we cannot accept something that provides advantages," said Elio Locatelli of Italy, the director of development for the IAAF, urging Pistorius to concentrate on the Paralympics that will follow the Olympics in Beijing. "It affects the purity of sport. Next will be another device where people can fly with something on their back."
Others have questioned the governing body's motivation. "I pose a question" for the IAAF, said Robert Gailey at the University of Miami Medical School who has studied amputee runners. "Are they looking at not having an unfair advantage? Or are they discriminating because of the purity of the Olympics, because they don't want to see a disabled man line up against an able-bodied man for fear that if the person who doesn't have the perfect body wins, what does that say about the image of man?"
According to Gailey, a prosthetic leg provides only about 80 per cent energy return to a runner, compared with up to 240 per cent energy return provided by a natural leg. "There is no science that he has an advantage, only that he is competing at a disadvantage," Gailey said.
