Fastest runner with no legs

[Firebricker]

I read this article and it made me sick ! If the governing body feels that this man has an unfair advantage than just have the whiners cut off their own legs to make it even. I'm willing to bet Pistorius would gladly give up his "advantage" to have his own legs.

I'm thankful the shooting sports are not like that. S&W's new sponsored shooter is in a wheel chair and you sure don't here any body whining about the few considerations made for him being unfair. FB

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/15/sports/othersports/15runner.html?pagewanted=all

[oneokie]

Got a link to the article?

[Firebricker]

Sorry about that I forgot to paste the link but it's on there now. FB

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

old ...

[Firebricker]

They banned any "technical device using springs ect" in 2008 then it got reversed and he got to compete later in 2011 and won a medal on the relay team. If he would have been able to compete 4 years earlier he might have been even more successful. Four years older makes a big difference with an athlete. IMO determination was his advantage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Pistorius

[Oreo]

Sorry, but I disagree with guys like this competing against guys without disability. It degrades the sport into an apples to oranges thing. Why not just put the guy with no legs on a motorized cart and let him run against regular athletes? Its not an engineering competition, that's why.

I don't mean to piss on the guys accomplishments or his aspirations but he's not the same as the other athletes. It sucks but that's the hand he was dealt.

[gray wolf]

Sorry, but I disagree with guys like this competing against guys without disability. It degrades the sport into an apples to oranges thing. Why not just put the guy with no legs on a motorized cart and let him run against regular athletes? Its not an engineering competition, that's why.

I don't mean to piss on the guys accomplishments or his aspirations but he's not the same as the other athletes. It sucks but that's the hand he was dealt.
Oreo is online now Report Post Reply With Quote
I respect your opinion, but I think it's a little to cut and dry.
While I find myself a little short at this time for a better solution, I am sure there is one out there. Then again on second thought I still respect your opinion
I am just not to keen on how you expressed it.

[Oreo]

Hows this then... Think of it like race cars. If you want to run the 100m then you have to decide whether you want to compete in the stock, modified street, or open class. Then you have to actually fit in the class.

I don't have a problem with guys like him competing in an appropriate race. He's obviously a skilled athlete and frankly I find him more interesting then most regular runners. I just prefer not to see political correctness get in the way of the integrity the competition.

http://www.moutons.org/sccasolo/Lists/index.html

[MBTcustom]

I hate to say it but I kind of agree with Oreo. I hate it for the guy, but its the Olympics. Say he was allowed to compete? Think about all of the "able bodied" people that tried and failed to make it to the top? What if they got an excuse to use steroid enhancement on the basis of their wanting to "level the playing field"? The track has always been one of the purest sports in the Olympics. Athletes use only their God given flesh and bone with no mechanical advantage whatsoever, in fact, its a bit of a new thing that they even wear clothes (The Greeks ran buff) .
This sucks for the guy, but if he was allowed to go all the way with this, it would be a window for a whole mess of garbage and politics that would muddy the sport.
All the kudos in the world to him for his accomplishments though. It really is amazing what technology can do.

[rbertalotto]

Sorry, but I disagree with guys like this competing against guys without disability. It degrades the sport into an apples to oranges thing. Why not just put the guy with no legs on a motorized cart and let him run against regular athletes? Its not an engineering competition, that's why.

Totally agree.........I get the whole physically challanged thing, but mechanical advantage is just that........Mono et mano is just that.......it is not Mona et Black and Decker

[imashooter2]

Sport should be pure. If the disabled want to compete, then they should compete with their disability. If this guy wants to be a sprinter, he should run on what legs God provided. Yes his life is tragic. The world is full of injustice.

[41 mag fan]

Athletes use only their God given flesh and bone with no mechanical advantage whatsoever, in fact, its a bit of a new thing that they even wear clothes (The Greeks ran buff) .
.


Ouch...just think of that road rash if you tripped and fell forward, while running back then in Greece!!!

[Oreo]

I think it would be cool if some sports were opened up to "enhancements", chemical or otherwise in a separate division. We'd have the NFL, and the N(c.e.)FL. You wanna be healthy and play ball you go do that with like-minded folks. You wanna throw caution to the wind, juice up and play ball then go do that to the maximum of your ability with other like-minded competitors. Like is like, equal is equal, fair and square.

[Firebricker]

I can't deny it you guy's raise some valid points against it. The line is beyond grey on this matter. My big issue is I don't see it as an advantage at all but the points you guys make do hold water. This is just one of those agree to disagree is the best we can do. FB

[Oreo]

It can't yet be proven as an advantage only because the engineers have restrained the sport prosthetic designs to restoring function to plausibly human levels. It's well understood what is needed to make a prosthetic perform beyond human ability. What happens when the engineers start pushing the envelope?

Who's to say a particular athlete's real legs could have performed as well as the prosthetic? What if I can't cut it with my own healthy legs and elect to have them amputated solely for the purpose of employing a high tech prosthetic in professional sports? What if I then win gold? How am I not different from the guy using steroids?

Prosthetics are not trained, nurtured, injured, or healed. They are engineered, and bought. The guy wearing the prosthetic has no risk of a pulled Achilles tendon during training exercise. If the prosthetic is broken the night before the Olympics a replacement is purchased. If Michael Johnson broke his ankle the night before he would forfeit.

[gray wolf]

Let me make something clear,
I am not disagreeing with what is being said. We have plenty of activities for the handicapped so they can compete in there own class. It shouldn't even be an issue or something to talk about.
Would you put a three legged Horse in a race ?
I only thought it was presented a little harsh, perhaps it just struck me that way when I read it.