NYTimes.com: Pistorius Sprints to Gold in First of His Three Races

This page was sent to you by: wmclellan@sbcglobal.net SPORTS / OTHER SPORTS | September 10, 2008 Roundup: Pistorius Sprints to Gold in First of His Three Races By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS One gold medal down and two to go for the sprinter Oscar Pistorius of South Africa at the Beijing Paralympics. 1. Op-Ed Columnist: Hold Your Heads Up 2. Op-Ed Columnist: From the Gut 3. Popularity of a Hallucinogen May Thwart Its Medical Uses 4. Cases: Perhaps Death Is Proud; More Reason to Savor Life 5. Op-Ed Columnist: Palin and McCain’s Shotgun Marriage » Go to Complete List Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company | Privacy Policy

The Care Digest Volume 2 Issue 2

The Care Digest Vol 2 Issue 2 (6-26-08) - Upload a Document to Scribd

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Pistorius on Talk of the Nation

Yesterday, while I was driving around between hospitals, physician offices, and nursing homes, I got to listen to Oscar Pistorius taking calls and being interviewed by Neil Conan on Talk of the Nation. It was really interesting to get his own perspective on how one test could show he had an unfair advantage and others could confirm he did not.

Evidently, the first test measured the volume of oxygen he used on a straight-of-way after accellerating, but there were several problems with this method. First, volume of oxygen use measures aerobic energy, whereas the 400m dash is mostly an anaerobic sprint. Second, Pistorius is at his greatest disadvantage to able-bodied sprinters when he is accellerating right out of the blocks and going around the two turns in his race.

Oscar also tells a funny story about the first time he ran with his J-shaped Cheetah feet, but I won't spoil it for you.

Columnist Reverses His Take on Pistorius

Opinion writer for the NY Times George Vecsey has changed his mind about Olympic hopeful Oscar Pistorius. In his piece today entitled, "A Ruling on the Side of Opportunity," Vecsey writes,

"While I still have doubts about the implications of these springy lower limbs — both in magnifying speed and affecting other runners — I find myself applauding the narrow one-case judgment of the court.

"It feels better to be on the side of hope and opportunity — particularly since the three-person arbitration team backed it up, unanimously."

Double Amputee Can Run in Olympics!

The now-famous double BK amputee from South Africa, Oscar Pistorius, has won his appeal today before the world's highest court for athletics, the Court of Arbitration for Sport. This clears him to compete in Beijing this summer with able bodied sprinters in his best event, the 400m, so long as he qualifies with a time of at least 45.95 seconds.

Earlier today, Pistorius said, “I am thrilled with the panel’s findings and hope that it silences many of the crazy theories that have been circulating in recent months about my having an unfair advantage.”

“My focus throughout this appeal has been to ensure that disabled athletes be given the chance to compete and compete fairly with able-bodied athletes. I look forward to continuing my quest to qualify for the Olympics.”

Pistorius Appeals Ruling

The South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius is appealing the ruling that threatens to keep him out of this summer's Olympic games in Beijing, China. He is taking his case all the way to the top, to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, arguing that his two prosthetic legs do not give him an unfair advantage over able-boddied athletes.

It's Official: Oscar Pistorius Barred from Olympic Games

Today, the IAAF has issued its official ruling that Oscar Pistorius' two carbon fiber prosthetic feet give him an unfair advantage over able-bodied athletes. It has barred him from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and any other track meet it sanctions.

As reported by the news agency Reuters, the official report issued by Professor Peter Bruggeman at the German Sport University in Cologne concludes that "Pistorius was able to run with his prosthetic blades at the same speed as the able-bodied sprinters with about 25 percent less energy expenditure." The same data, however, could also be interpreted to show that with his cardiovascular strength, he could run faster than those guys if he had their legs.

Nevertheless, Oscar Pistorius has done so much to raise awareness around the world about amputation, prosthetics, disabled sport and disability in general. His is a truely heroic sport story!

NY Times Says Pistorius Probably Will Not Run in 2008 Beijing Olympics

The New York Times is reporting today that in the the IAAF will soon announce that Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee sprinter from South Africa, will not be allowed to run in the 2008 Beijing Olympics because his two prosthetic legs give him an unfair advantage. An editorial in today's Times argues that this is the best decision, but an interactive slideshow gives the other perspective, from the University of Miami and Ossur, who manufactures Pistorius' feet.

On the one hand, Pistorius is unable to produce the energy an able-bodied athlete produces with his or her calves, and he must exert almost twice as much energy with his thighs. On the other hand, it seems that his prosthetic feet lengthen his stride. His J-shaped feet, called Cheetahs, conserve 90% of the energy they receive on impact, much higher than the human foot by itself, but much lower than the 200% return the foot gets with the aid of the calf muscel. It seems that the determining factor against Pistorius may be that in closely monitored trials, he used less oxygen than able-bodied runners at the same speed.

"Oscar Pistorius should be out of the running"

Despite these results, the man has no calves. Able bodied runners rely not only on the energy storing properties of the foot, but the energy producing properties of muscle, which Pistorius does not have. I say, let him run! What do you think?

From the Times of London:

Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee world record-holder at 100 metres, 200 metres and 400 metres, is almost certain to have his dream of competing at the Beijing Olympic Games shattered in the next few days. Professor Peter Brüggemann, the scientist in Cologne who has conducted tests on the South African at the behest of the IAAF, told a German newspaper two weeks ago that Pistorius’s curved carbon fibre blades give him a “considerable advantage” over his able-bodied rivals.

According to the report in Die Welt, the German newspaper, Brüggemann confessed to being surprised by the unequivocal nature of the results. “The difference is several percentage points and I did not think the findings would be so clear,” he said. “The prosthetics return 90 per cent of the impact energy compared to the 60 per cent of the human foot.”

The IAAF, which stated at the outset that it would not sanction Pistorius’s participation in able-bodied events if the tests showed that his blades gave him a material advantage, is expected to make its ruling on January 10.

Many of Pistorius’s fans and a surprising number of pundits have responded to Brüggemann’s comments by urging the IAAF to ignore its own criteria and allow Pistorius to compete regardless. They claim that Pistorius has achieved a miracle by getting this far with amputated legs and that any bar on his participation in the Olympics would be mean-spirited. They argue that their stance has humanity, empathy and even morality on its side. In doing so they confuse these noble sentiments with something both demeaning and pernicious.

Giving the South African the green light under such circumstances would not only be an insult to Pistorius but an assault on the principles of Paralympism. Disability sport came into existence precisely so that men and women with handicaps could compete with each other on a level playing field.

Categories of disability were created to safeguard this philosophy. So, how can it be argued that Pistorius should be allowed to compete despite having a measurable anatomical advantage over his able-bodied competitors? The ramifications hardly need stating. Why not allow wheelchair athletes to compete and win - as they undoubtedly would - in able-bodied marathon events? Why not allow amputees with motorised limbs into the Olympic Games? We would quickly end up with a technological free-for-all no less damaging to the integrity of sport than if we allowed carte blanche in the use of performance-enhancing narcotics.

I spent much of my early table tennis career practising with John Jenkins, the leading wheelchair player of the era. No quarter was asked, none given. When the opportunity arose I would deliberately angle the ball to exploit Jenkins’s lack of reach and, on occasions, he would lean so far to get bat on ball that his chair would topple over, sending him to the ground with a deafening crash. Seconds later he would be up again, face gritted, lips smiling grimly, his eyes dancing with the joy of competition.

One time my father happened to be watching us practise and, seeing my tactics, berated me for a lack of sportsmanship. Jenkins eyed my father closely, put a hand on his elbow and told him that going easy on him would be the most serious violation of sportsmanship and the grossest possible insult. “I would rather not play than experience that,” he said. Jenkins understood, as so many of Pistorius’s apologists do not, that giving an artificial advantage to disabled athletes springs from the misguided pity that is the scourge of their lives.

I spent two days with Pistorius in South Africa this year and, like many who have made his acquaintance, I left with as much admiration for his generous personality as for his athletic prowess. He is a young man with a huge amount to offer the sporting world even if he is “confined” to the disabled events in which he has made his name and growing fortune.

On hearing the comments of Brüggemann, Pistorius vowed to get independent corroboration of the results. He is right to want to ensure that the science governing his future is robust. If it can be shown that Pistorius does not have the advantage Brüggemann claims, then the South African should be allowed to compete against the able-bodied.

If not, he has no business competing at the Olympic Games. And one suspects that, once he has come to terms with his initial disappointment, Pistorius will embrace that verdict wholeheartedly.

The Fastest Man on No Legs