Oscar Pistorius: Able or Disabled?
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Great post over at the Life In The Fast Lane blog about Oscar Pistorius - a double amputee who can sprint 100m in under 11 seconds!
“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.”
Full story: The Hindu
I think it’s crazy that people think he has an unfair advantage. Oscar deserves a chance to compete against the best in the world and I hope he gets it.
What do you think?
I have actually thought about this quite a bit. I am going to take the stance that he should not be able to compete in the Olympics. The Olympics bars athletes from taking anything that will enhance their performance. There is no proof that this guy is not benefiting from his prosthetic legs. It may definitely be a disadvantage, but until we know for sure, I do not believe it is fair to place him in the general pool.