South African sprinter, holds records in 100, 200, and 400 track events. His PB includes 10.91 for 100, 21.58 in 200 and 49.16 in 400m. (Only a small amount off the B Qualifing time set of 10.28, 20.75, and 45.95 - www.iaaf.org)Yet he is not able to represent his country, under a ruling made by the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations)
Oscar Pistorius is known as the "fastest man on no legs". He was born in 1986 with out fibulae, that is the bone in your upper leg. So for his entire life he has had to learn how to fight adverary. But on the 14th of January his fight for making his countries olympic (rather than paralympic) team hit the highest hurdle, the IAAF passed a ruling that said he would not be allowed to compete. IAAF scientist had done tests with Pistorius and it showed that he had a clear advantage over the other athletes who would be competing. The study showed "Pistorius was able to run with his prosthetic blades at the same speed as the able-bodied sprinters with about 25% less energy expenditure" and that "the mechanical advantage of the blade in relation to the healthy ankle joint of an able bodied athlete is higher than 30%." *.
Following this report, IAAF adjusted its entry requiremements.in section 144.2 (e) stating that ANY technical device that gives an advantage is banned.
OK, so that is a quick up date of who this lad is. Now to my point. Surely his cheetahs (as his j shaped running legs are called) could then be adjusted to meet a new IAAF standard that closer resembled the bio-mechanics of the "normal" human leg? Or perhaps there is a precedent that young Pistorius could use? Well, in an article in TIME magazine on Pistorius, an Olympic gymnast was mentioned by the name of George Eyser. Eyser won six medals (TIME article. But also in my search I have found that there have been many other Paralympians hoping to make the mark on the world stage. In looking at many of these case, it really appears that they have no threat to the finals of the events they wish to compete in, little own to their countries team. I think that the IAAF needs to look at this a little more. Perhaps they should try to run around a track with no legs, just some plastic legs, or swim 100m with one arm, or to run and jump a horse with a wooden leg. Perhaps then they will see, what many of us see every day, it is from atheletes like Pistorius that we can gain our biggest motivations. His times would mean that he would struggle to make a south african running, but his heart wants to aim, to dream and to drive for that. But now, through a birth defect, he is robbed of the thing that would hurt the most, the has had his dream taken from him. THAT HURTS!
Links:
http://www.ossur.com/?PageID=3364#Highlights - Pistorius Highlights
http://www.athletics.org.za - Athletics South Africa
http://www.iaaf.org/news/kind=512/newsid=42896.html - The report from the IAAF
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