Oscar Pistoruis - unfair advantage?

The Ramzev

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Jun 14, 2010
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I've had this debate elsewhere.

I can't possibly see how having no lower legs can be an advantage, however good the prosthetics, which unless powered cannot do more than act as springs and return the energy put into them. Even that will be at less than 100%.

So NO.
 
I dunno. I'd argue that he has to worry about health issues for his stumps, and for the un-natural stress placed on other joints (his stride doesn't look just like everyone else's).

I think it's in the spirit of sport to let him run. If runners with prosthetics end up having an extra edge, create a class for them. I supposed the prosthetic could provide a greater return on energy input than the human spring would.

I'm not surprised his hyper-competitive opponents would feel this way, though: it's the nature of being hyper-competitive.

What are your thoughts? I agree with Michael Johnson; it's hard to say whether Oscar Pistorius has an advantage since there are no time comparisons from before he got the prosthitics. He doesn't have to worry about health issues for his lower legs, ankles, and feet so that is technically another advantage.

Here's the story:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ol...-Oscar-Pistorius-has-an-unfair-advantage.html
 
Yeah I've heard about this for some time now, that they're actually faster with those carbon fiber blades.
 
Apparently, everyone that knows about biomechanics of sprinting says that Pistorius has an advantage, and the only "debate" is how much of an advantage he has. And by "know about", I don't mean "Read a bunch of blogs about it". I mean, "has force plates and high speed cameras in their workspace".

But personally? I'd love to see people with prosthetics run in the Olympics because it would be awesome. I'm not too worried about a slippery slope, and think that it would be fine to deal with any problems that arise at a later. I doubt people will start chopping off their legs. If the prosthetics get so much better that meat-legged people can't win races anymore, we'll have to split us up again.
 
This article is an opinion that is light on the facts. It tells us nothing about how the supposed advantage comes about, on "what if" "maybe" etc.

Too vague to state any opinion really. Give us some data to work on!
 
Okay then - get down to the part about "swing time", "contact time", and "aerial time".

http://www.sportsscientists.com/2011/08/pistorius-12-sec-advantage-and.html

So, he has an advantage. Now debate whether the advantage is unfair. Ages ago, Pistorius himself argued that it wasn't unfair because the other athletes were all welcome to chop their legs off and get some carbon fiber legs.
 
I believe that is one issue, there really probably isn't any data to go off of. If there isn't data to show that there is/is not an advantage should it be allowed. If it is allowed, what other athletes with prosthetics would be allowed in the future?
 
I believe that is one issue, there really probably isn't any data to go off of. If there isn't data to show that there is/is not an advantage should it be allowed. If it is allowed, what other athletes with prosthetics would be allowed in the future?

Ram - see the link I posted above. There's plenty of data on Pistorius's advantages in sprinting.
 
So, the artificial legs convey a mechanical advantage in reduced swing time, reduced force production at given speed (which could be argued either way as a cause or effect) and a reduced energy requirements.

The next question I would ask is does this mechanical advantage outweigh the reduced muscular mass? And, if he's so much more efficient, why is he so slow (by comparison with the olympic elite, not us mere mortals)?
 
Know what, though? I just found out he's competing in the Paralympics too. I think he should have to pick between the two.

I agree
 
Does he compete in the Special Olympics by chance?
 
umm TJ that's for people with mental and intellectual disabilities :confused:
 
wait til one of those blades break, then see how much of an advantage he has...

IMO, the guy is disabled. Let him race. If he's not even close to touching elites, then whats the point of debating this?

As it pertains to barefoot running... he's running blind. Thats gotta be difficult to maintain a course when your mind can't read the pavement. (as in why we prefer to be barefoot in the first place:) )
 
You're right, Pat. My very bad. I meant the Para Olympics. Apologies to all.
 
So, does he race in the Para Olympics?
 
So, does he race in the Para Olympics?


Yes, TJ - and he's owned the Paralympics, and the world-class amputee track meets. You might not know this, but the paralympics are hugely competitive.

I had a friend in college that played wheelchair tennis. Anyhow, she loved to play tennis, and would play against anyone. She'd go to the court and would basically KILL every able bodied person that tried to play her. Could she go to the paralympics? Oh, heck no. Nowhere near good enough.
 
I was just wondering but guessing he did. I'm sure they are very competitive. I mean, why not, right?

On a side note, my husband's nephew plays wheelchair basketball for the University of Missouri (Mizzou). He is very competitive too. The thing is he can get up an walk just fine; in fact, he plays every sport out there, and you can't even tell he is missing a leg when he wears his prosthetic leg.