Amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius allowed to compete in Beijing

Maverick · May 16, 2008

What is coming to us?
Is it a bird,
Is it Ang's choo choo :jb:
It is Oscar Pistorius aka Bladerunner!!!

Amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius allowed to compete in Beijing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moIkCxXrobk&feature=related

Oscar Pistorius, a double-amputee sprinter known as the fastest man on no legs, will be allowed to compete at the Beijing Olympics after a ban on his prosthetic limbs was overturned today.
The South African 400 metre runner had been forbidden from competing alongside able-bodied athletes because his high-tech carbon fibre blades were thought to give him a mechanical advantage.
But today the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the 21-year-old South African blade-runner is eligible to race against Olympic athletes, ending the ban imposed by the IAAF.
Pistorius will still have to reach the qualifying time in order to compete in the individual event, but after today’s ruling he can be selected for the South African relay team immediately.

“As you can imagine I have been struggling to hide my smile for the last half an hour,” Pistorius said. “I can definitely say the truth has come out. We have the opportunity once again to chase my dream of participating in an Olympics, if not in 2008 then in 2012.”
The young sprinter already holds the 400 metre Paralympic world record of 46.56 seconds, but that time is outside the Olympic qualifying standard of 45.55.
Even if he fails to shave the vital second off his personal best in time for this year’s Games he says he will continue to training to reach the elite standard of international athletes.
Pistorius uses the “Cheetah Flex-Foot” curved blades, which are designed to efficiently store and release the energy he generates in his hips propelling him forward at record-breaking speed.
The kinetic efficiency of the prosthetic limbs emulates the power he would have produced through his feet and ankles.
The athlete was born without fibulas, the long, thin outer bone between the knee and ankle, and at 11 months old, his legs were amputated just below the knee.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) today made a unanimous ruling that he should be able to compete in mainstream events, a decision instantly accepted by the IAAF.
“He is an inspirational man and we look forward to admiring his achievements in the future,” said Lamine Diack, the IAAF president. “Oscar will be welcomed wherever he competes this summer.”
A two-day hearing took place before a panel of three arbitrators at CAS headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland last month.
“The panel was not persuaded that there was sufficient evidence of any metabolic advantage in favour of a double-amputee using the Cheetah Flex-Foot,” the CAS ruling said.
“Furthermore, the CAS panel has considered that the IAAF did not prove that the biomechanical effects of using this particular prosthetic device gives Oscar Pistorius an advantage over other athletes not using the device.”
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ProjectD · May 16, 2008

oh man tough guy xD

Amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius allowed to compete in Beijing

Maverick Lord Vader

ProjectD VIP yay :]