Amputee Not Allowed To Participate in Olympic Games
The New York Times reports that “[t]rack and field’s world governing body ruled on Monday that Oscar Pistorius, a double-amputee sprinter from South Africa, is not be eligible to compete in Olympic qualifying events.”
Pistorius was born 21 years ago “without fibulas and had both legs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old.” He got fake, prosthetic legs and learned to walk on them. However, he didn’t just learn to walk on them, he learned how to run with them. And fast too. He “has set Paralympic world records in the 100, 200 and 400 meters and it was his dream to compete in the Olympic Games,” something he should be able to do because he’s fast enough.
(Image: Oscar Pistorius in action. France-Press-Getty Images)
The problem, however, is that he’s a little bit too fast, according to the International Association of Athletics Federations at least.
In a statement the association said that Pistorius’s state-of-the-art carbon fiber prosthetics “should be considered as technical aids which give him an advantage over other athletes not using them.” As such he’s not allowed to compete in Olympic qualifying events and, as a result, he won’t be able to go to the normal Olympics.
“Pistorius’s agent, Peet Van Zyl, said that he and Pistorius were seeking legal advice in order to prepare an appeal,” the NYT reports. Van Zyl explained: “We need to speak with the I.A.A.F. first and see what approaches we can follow there. The last resort will probably be the Court of Arbitration for Sport.”
I have to say that, as I see it, he should be allowed to participate in the normal Olympic games, provided he’s fast enough / can qualify by doing well in qualifying tournaments. Olympic Games for those with a physical handicap are organized because those athletes can’t compete on the same level as people without a handicap. With Pistorius, however, that’s not the case: he can also compete in a ‘normal’ field of athletes.
The Paralympic games are nice and all, but as a sportsfan it’s all about the normal Olympics.
Not only that, the Olympics are about more than just sports. They’re also about attitude. About life. About participating, not winning. About testing yourself. About doing the very best you can. Such a tournament should, then, embrace and welcome Pistorius. He represents what the Olympic are supposed to represent. Although he is physically disabled, he refused to sit at home all day long and to let life pass him by.
Aside from that, it’s also unclear whether his fake legs actually help him. There are also downsides to having them, obviously, so it doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s faster with these legs than he would be with legs of flesh and bones.
Luckily Pistorius promised to fight for his right to compete: “I feel that it is my responsibility on behalf of myself and all other disabled athletes, to stand firmly and not allow one organization to inhibit our ability to compete using the very tools without which we simply cannot walk, let alone run. I will not stand down.”
While I sympathize with the position taken, the decision to not let him run is not arbitrary. There comes a point where technology surpasses biology. His "cheetah" prosthetics do just that. Part of the ability to run at high velocity comes from the achilles tendon conserving part of the energy expended. His prosthetics do this better than an actual biological tendon, allowing him to use up to 25% less energy while running as compared to a 100% biological runner.
I appreciate that running with prosthetics is not the same thing as running with legs, but I think that the challenge of doing so is also compensated by the fact that prosthetics of that sort (they look nothing like legs) weigh less than actual legs.
I can see a compromise position though; make prosthetics that are no better than actual legs, and then, if he qualifies, by all means allow him to compete. I’d be the first to cheer him on.
That’s the real question. And if it’s possible that he gets any advantage at all, he should probably be disallowed. While he certainly didn’t ask not to have normal legs, he would still be getting an artificial advantage, much like performance enhancing drugs.
Agree completely with Lynx. It’s tempting to say that this would be so inspiring, to have a person with a serious physical handicap compete on the same playing field as ‘normal’ athletes. But if the prosthetics serve to provide a mechanical advantage (which seems pretty clear in this case) then that’s an unfair advantage rather than a handicap that he makes up for with sheer will and training.
The problem is that it’s not really possible to entirely quantify all of the various advantages and disadvantages involved here. On the one hand, the prosthetics are lighter and have more bounce. On the other, is it possible to determine how much of a normal runner’s speed and effort is due to the calf and foot muscles which Pistorious lacks? Even if you could quantify that, there’s just too many differences here to make for a fair comparison.
There has to be a line somewhere, of course. If Steve Austin (the Six Million Dollar Man, not the wrestler) or Jamie Sommers wanted to compete in the Olympics, it would be unfair to allow them to do so, because their bionic legs would give them about the same advantage as allowing a runner to ride a motorcycle, instead. It seems simplest and least arbitrary to draw the line at any prosthetics, period.
What? No it’s not. The experts disagree with you at least.
I should say, I guess, seems pretty clear to me. He has every right to appeal this and ask for additional independent studies (which is a good thing, since this is a new issue now occurring which needs to be studied.) But the testing so far showed a clear mechanical advantage, and even though the person speaking about the test results couldn’t definitively state that this would provide an overall advantage, he also cited the fact that Pistorius’ oxygen intake during a race is also significantly less than able bodied athletes (which lends further credence to the idea that he doesn’t have to work as hard to provide the same effect- his prostheses seem to propel him in a more efficient manner than the natural human leg would do.)
Again, I’m only stating my opinion based on the facts being reported.
Based on a quick read of several articles like this one, it looks to me like in sprinting on level ground, the calf muscles function almost entirely as springs; they provide little if any energy on their own. If that’s accurate, it definitely weakens Pistorious’ case. If sprinters’ calf muscles are mostly important as springs, and Pistorious has better, artificial springs, then he’s getting an unfair advantage. Is that advantage canceled out by disadvantages inherent in the prosthetics, like greater energy being required to maintain balance or something? I have no idea. As I said earlier, I think it would be too difficult to calculate.