What happens in four years if he gets improved blades and crushes Bolt's sprint record? It's a slippery slope when you allow non-human elements as part of a human during competition. The level playing field is supposed to be just that.
The guy is an inspiration, no doubt. Not questioning his strength or courage. I just think there's a line when it comes to medical enhancements with athletes, just like doping. You can call it ridiculous all you want, but I'd like to hear where you draw the line.
I don't think you can call it a "medical enhancement". The only thing they do is bring him on par with the athletes who have normal feet. If you put motors, springs, etc in them, then yeah, it would be an unfair advantage.
Also for the sake of argument, the whole "medical enhancement" thing is a grey area. Couldn't some of these new surgeries and technologies to rehab from injuries could almost be considered that now? In the past few years, there are now athletes having ligament replacement surgeries and coming back even stronger than they were before.
With respect to Pistorius I think there is a reason to say he cannot run. It's clear his blades flex and "bounce" adding some mechanical advantage. This is not an advantage available to all competitors.
There is some element of flex and bounce in real human feet/ankles too.
The prestorious question is a tricky one though...He isn't in the same ball-park in terms of times as his fellow competitors, and I wonder why he doesn't compete in the para-games? Would a double amputee be allowed to run those blades though? I doubt it.
He has run in the paralympics and won gold before, and from the report I saw on NBC yesterday he is running in them again this year and hopes to win gold in the 100, 200, and 400.
But what would have happened if he had won that race? There would have been an outcry. Just because he has no legs and has a disadvantage perhaps in real life, it does not mean he is disadvantaged on the track; he is basically augmented. I think the IOC made a mistake, It's just not fair on other athletes.
The IOC (as Surely posted) did extensive testing and determined that it does not give him a competitive advantage. I saw video of them doing testing on an exercise bike to compare his athletic ability to other athletes while removing the blades from the equation.
I think they made a great point in the NBC segment I saw on him last night when they said "if these blades really gave him a competitive advantage, then how come he is the only person in the world to be able to do this?" He's not the only person in the world with access to this technology, but he is the only one who has ever been good enough to make it to this level. That says a lot more about him as an athlete than the medical technology behind his artificial feet.
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I agree, it was just he was so far off the pace, I wonder what he's trying to prove...He is indeed a double amputee, and I have the utmost respect for him...It just seems he's competing in an environment he can't really ever succeed in.
He might have been off the pace in that semifinal race, but keep in mind he had already placed in the first round of qualifications (and beat out several other runners) to make it in to that round to begin with.
