Advantage??? He never made it out of the semi-final round of the 400 m, so I think the question was answered.
Oscar Pistoruis - unfair advantage?
- Thread starter The Ramzev
- Start date
I have a friend up here who lost one of her hands in a freak accident. She is a fantastic runner and a tri-athelete. She does not compete in the paraolympics even though she has been asked, as she believes she has a unfair advantage, as her lost hand does not affect her running (she just runs with a hook and pokes people she knows as she goes by with a big grin on her face) over other runners who are competing. She was a track star in high school and has not missed a beat.
Whoops, hit post to fast, where was I going with this, oh yeah, it is only an advantange if you believe it is. I personally think the ability to learn to run with those type of prosthetics takes a lot of effort, training and persistance, and he has earned the right to run in what ever event he chooses.
But that is just my two cents.
But that is just my two cents.
Not necessarily. Maybe the prosthesis gave him enough of an advantage to make it to the Olympics in the first place. I don't mean to take away anything this guy has accomplished, the dude is amazing. My concern is that now the president has been set, where does it stop? Do they now need to some up with an entire new set of rules for prosthesis? How are they to be tested to ensure there is no extra "spring"?
Of course he's amazing, but we need to look beyond that. The Olympic Committee just opened a can of worms which could potentially cause a lot of controversy in the future.
But if the issue is springiness, then wouldn't that intimate that a legged individual that is naturally springier than the others (work with me on the terminology, here) would also have an unfair advantage? Or to back that scenario out further, wouldn't that mean that someone that has more natural ability than the others has the unfair advantage? It seem that the only reason this is even being questioned is because of the man-made blades. Was the first guy to ride an aluminum or carbon fibre bike in the Tour de France considered to have an unfair advantage?
well actually yes, Greg Lemond rode a bike with tri-bars in the last time trial in Paris one year, that ride gave him the win and was very controversial at the time.
You only need to go back 100 years and it was considered very unsporting to train at all, you were expected to win with your innate talent, so by that standard any of today's athletes woudl be considered to have a very unfair advantage.
You only need to go back 100 years and it was considered very unsporting to train at all, you were expected to win with your innate talent, so by that standard any of today's athletes woudl be considered to have a very unfair advantage.
I'd guess he doesn't have an advantage. Or at least not a big enough one to win. As prosthetics get better I'd guess the Olympic committee will start defining relative attributes (size, weight, flex, etc) for them that athletes must abide by. Much like how softball organizations restrict how good a carbon fiber bat can be for competition use or how athletes in the games are restricted from using drugs to increase their natural talent. I think the Olympic committee will allow the sport to get to the point where you need to cut off your legs to compete.
I think assuming he doesn't have an advantage simply because he didn't win is flawed since no one can prove what is ability would be without the prosthesis. there is somone who didn't even get a chance to go to the Olympics because he lost to Pistorius.
Actually, I couldn't give a rat's ass.
Oscar is one of the finest sportsmen I have ever heard speak. Nothing but wonderful things to say about his competiton and the events in which he participated.
He embodied all that is "the olympics" and for that, he should be applauded.
If he had won a medal it would have been because he had "an advantage". Now that he hasn't, it's because "he was handicapped".
He was in a difficult position either way and he handled it brilliantly.
Congratulations, Oscar.
Oscar is one of the finest sportsmen I have ever heard speak. Nothing but wonderful things to say about his competiton and the events in which he participated.
He embodied all that is "the olympics" and for that, he should be applauded.
If he had won a medal it would have been because he had "an advantage". Now that he hasn't, it's because "he was handicapped".
He was in a difficult position either way and he handled it brilliantly.
Congratulations, Oscar.
