[Joed]

Oscar Pistorius is appealing a decision that prevents him from competing in the Olympics in Bejing.

Oscar is a double amputee and wants to race using his Cheetah Blades, but the Olympic committee ruled that the prosthetic legs give him an unfair advantage over the other contestants.

I'm undecided how I feel about it. I see both sides. Maybe a good solution would be to give all the runners Cheetah Blades.

Anyway, I thought some of you would be interested in the story. I'd like to hear what others think about it.

[Texaswheelz]

I've read about it several times and to be honest I do agree with the olympic commitee, the disabled runner in this case does have an unfair advantage over the AB runners. The blades are lighter then that part of your leg would be, they also don't have the muscles in his lower legs to fatigue. That's just my opinion though.

[nomis]

I reluctantly have to go along with the Olympic committee. It's a great pity Pistorius is prevented from competing but you can't mess about with the Olympics - it's got to be seen as all fair and square without doubt.

I hope to continue to see Pistorius race against top athletes in other competitions but it will always be among the less major events. He could become a star attraction if he starts to set world records. He may even start a new sports craze where people can't wait to lop off their legs at the shins for a set of springy blades.

[Joed]

nomis, on May 1 2008, 09:43 AM, said:

He may even start a new sports craze...

Bionic Sports...not just for everyone.

[dom]

i also agree with the olympic commitee but also there is a whole can of worms waiting to be opened up if they use genetic modification on people creating 'super athletes' it will make all these drug scandals recently fade into the background as the quaint old good ole' days!

[Slowlegs]

The energy has to come from somewhere and if it isn't coming from his calves it must be coming from his thighs. They also use carbon fibre bikes and aerodynamics in cycling, special swimming outfits in the pool and other machinery. If they didn't allow development in sport Formula 1 would still be raced in model T fords. The others could also amputate their legs to see if it helped I suppose. I heard of a weightlifter who had a double amputation. He won in an AB bench pressing competition but someone who didn't beat him complained he wasn't wearing the regulation shoes and he was disqualified. A few years ago I won a go kart challenge against my workmates, one of them used to say I drove like his Mum until I kicked his butt in a real race. I think it was because I couldn't really get my foot off the accelerator (there was only one place I could fully get my foot off the throttle) and my weak left leg worked like anti lock braking There is only one thing some ab's hate more than being beaten and that is beaten by one of us.

[KimAndSophie]

Joed, on Apr 30 2008, 07:53 PM, said:

Oscar Pistorius is appealing a decision that prevents him from competing in the Olympics in Bejing.

Oscar is a double amputee and wants to race using his Cheetah Blades, but the Olympic committee ruled that the prosthetic legs give him an unfair advantage over the other contestants.

I'm undecided how I feel about it. I see both sides. Maybe a good solution would be to give all the runners Cheetah Blades.

Anyway, I thought some of you would be interested in the story. I'd like to hear what others think about it.

There's the side of me that when I first heard about this wanted him to compete with the able bodied athletes, but when I read more about it if he has an advantage because of his legs then I think he should compete against people with that same advantage. To me him racing against able bodied athletes is like able bodied people playing quad rugby. It's just not fair when you really think about it.

He can go faster because of the advantages of the equipment he uses (his legs), just like the able bidied quad rugby players would have the advantages of their strength. In the end all of the athletes competing in all of the races would be leg amputees because the able bodied people just wouldn't be in the top people and all of the "quad" rugby players would be able bodied people because no one with limited arm strength/function would be good enough to play.

I don't agree with the Olympics getting all of the attention when the Paralympics gets next to none though. All of the athletes work very hard to get there and they all deserve the same. I think the Paralympics should be completely done away with and combined with the Olympics.

Combine them, but still let peopel compete in the areas they are now. So in the track events you would have your able bodied people racing against each other liek they do now, and your wheelchair athletes racing in their races, just have the races mixed in through each other. After all every one of the people racing no matter if they are disabled or not have worked freakin hard to get where they are. Give all of the sports and people the same amount of attention. They are all people, so why give everything to one group and nothing to the other.

It's like people think that the Paralympic athletes are there because it's amazing they even got out to do something and they are "allowed" to go to their "special" version of the Olympics because they are playing a sport. Not because of all of the years of training and hard work they put into it!

Maybe if it was like that the Paralympics would be looked at in the same way as the Olympic athletes and when someone saw one of us out shopping etc. they wouldn't look down on us or pitty us so much. Sorry for the rant! This just really bugs me!

Slowlegs, on Aug 9 2008, 03:42 AM, said:

They also use carbon fibre bikes and aerodynamics in cycling, special swimming outfits in the pool and other machinery.

Yes, but any athlete can get these things. Only amputees can get carbon fiber legs and have that advantage.

[Slowlegs]

Yes, I agree about them not showing the paralympics on TV although to them it probably seems like a minority interest sport so the networks won't play it in prime time where they want to get maximum advertising revenue. Thing is if they even played highlights at around 8PM I think the interest would grow. They played highlights here a few years ago but it was around midnight or some odd time. I couldn't watch it as I had work the next day. Regarding the Oscar story, I think had he got through (missed by .25 of a second from qualifying in the end I heard) he may have done a dis service to Paralympic sport as some of the more anti paralympic sport "afficionados" would perhaps have used that as ammo in stopping paralympics. Wasn't there a golf player in the PGA who had a disability and they said it was an unfair advantage if he used a golf cart? I saw a demonstration game between a top rugby able bodied team and wheelchair rugby players. It was a walkover (or run over) as the rugby guys got owned! With a bit more skill and practice the rugby guys would possibly have done better but to them it was probably like walking on their hands. I am not sure if I am correct but doesn't the total of the players classification numbers have to be less than a certain number so even if an AB did play the rest of the team would have to have more severe disabilities?

[KimAndSophie]

Slowlegs, on Aug 9 2008, 05:21 AM, said:

I am not sure if I am correct but doesn't the total of the players classification numbers have to be less than a certain number so even if an AB did play the rest of the team would have to have more severe disabilities?

That's right, but I have no doubt that if more able bodied people started playing that number would rise because there wouldn't be enough people in the low numbers for a team.