IAAF run from amputee crisis
The world of sport took a pedantic and unnecessary turn recently when Oscar Pistorius was disallowed entry into the Beijing Olympic Games because, according to a scientific study – he had an advantage over able bodied competitors.
Somehow I don’t think that Pistorius sees having no limbs below the knee as an advantage. If instead of carbon prosthetics he was wearing rocket powered hover legs, or perhaps tied himself to a small hyena then I would freely admit that he had quite the leg up (excuse the pun), after all the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) have banned the use of any outside interference from wheels, springs and wild animals. That’s fair enough, but the South Africans’ “blades” are designed to replicate the power transfer of an actual leg without the use of springs or wheels. They are designed to level the playing field for athletes like Pistorius who are less able bodied.
The reasoning given in the scientific study into whether the “blade runner” gained an advantage was that when sprinting, he used up less energy and produced less lactic acid. I’m not sure about you, but surely common sense should kick in a little here. The man burns 25% less energy and produces 20% less lactic acid because he’s got no legs. He’s 25% less person than able bodied athletes. It’s not even as though he’s actually gaining wild advantages over the able bodied field – his 46.34s Paralympic World Record in the 400m is still slower than many of the able bodied athletes competing in Beijing.
It seems to me as though the IAAF are trying to save themselves the apparent embarrassment of having an amputee compete at the able bodied Olympic games, given that he has a realistic chance of beating some of the other athletes. A man with blades for feet should be the last thing on the minds of the IAAF in light of the recent Marion Jones scandal. Let the man compete.
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