It is something, isn’t it, that the most contentious argument in athletics this year concerns the speed of a runner who has no legs. Oscar Pistorius is 20, brave and, perhaps, too fast for his own good. He is a double amputee, who runs on carbon fibre feet, and wants to run in Beijing. Not in the Paralympics where he is already a gold medallist. But in the Olympics. Like any other man. But not everyone is convinced he should run in the Olympics, against able-bodied athletes, because they feel he is ‘not’ any other man, but an athlete whose prosthetics give him a technological advantage. Stirring and tragic Pistorius’ story is as stirring as it may be eventually tragic; it is a debate bustling with raw emotion and cool science; it is a tale of the collision of technology and sport; and it is a journey into the heart of what we understand as even competition. Born without fibulas, Pistorius underwent a double amputation, below the knee, as a baby. Now he is fast enough to come second in the 400 metres at the able-bodied South African nationals. This is a fine athlete (10.91 in the 100, 21.58 in the 200), of artificial legs but real skills. It seems absurd to believe a man with no legs has an advantage over ‘able-bodied’ athletes, ridiculous to assume he is not so much ‘disabled’ but ‘more abled’. It is why the instinctive reaction to the idea Pistorius may be banned from the Olympics is dismay. The Cheetahs If anything, Pitorius appears disadvantaged. His prosthetics called Cheetahs rest uneasily on starting blocks, his start is ungainly and he requires 20-30 metres to gain momentum. It is argued his blades do not grip as thoroughly on wet tracks nor do they respond well in the wind. Stability is hard, still he has timed 46.34 in the 400 (India’s national record for able-bodied athletes is 45.48). But scientific men are asking pertinent questions. Already there is conjecture that Pistorius’ stride is longer, and more repeated, than for a man his height, and that his prosthetics are lighter, springier and of course absent of lactic acid build-up. It is agreed he starts slowly, but argued that he finishes too fast.
its only cause those legs are made like legs of a kangaroo which gives the best performance.. aka his cheating!!! speedhack imo! :<
