Oscar Pistorius, The Blade Runner
Oscar Pistorius, also known as the “blade runner”, was born in November 1986 without the fibulas in both legs. With no alternative, his boneless lower limbs were amputated.
This did not hinder him from taking part in just about every school sport imaginable and after a serious rugby injury in June 2003 he entered into a rehabilitation programme at the High Performance Centre at the University of Pretoria that included activity on the track.
He started running in January, 2004, and two months later was competing. Fast forward eight months and he was running against world class athletes at the Athens Paralympics where he became the first amputee to run the 200m in under 22 seconds.
In March 2005 he placed sixth in the 400m for “able-bodied” persons at the South African Championships.
He is the world record holder for amputees in the 100, 200 and 400m events. In twelve months he broke his own world record nineteen times! In September 2007 he again broke the 400m world record!
In January 2008 the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) found the prosthetic “blades” or “Cheetahs” gave him an unfair advantage over “able-bodied” athletes. They claimed that the “blades” needed 25% less energy than so-called “able-bodied” persons did to run at similar speeds and also that there was a 30% advantage because of loss or energy in the ankle joint of people with ankles.
Sceptics argued that by this rationale Paralympians should hold all of the world track records! The study also did not take into account the psychological effects and trauma of such an operation and of growing up with the disability.
In a two-day hearing earlier this month the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), observing evidence from independent tests done by Hugh M Herr of the Michigan Institute of Technology (MIT), overturned the IAAF ruling and allowed Pistorius to compete against the “able-bodied” and therefore in the August Beijing Olympics.
He needs to improve his personal best time by one second in the 400m to qualify; a Herculean feat as his training has been set back by the appeal to the CAS.
Those in the know say that the “blade runner” is not much of a threat and it is highly unlikely that he will return to SA with a medal. However, one must observe that this is a man who has regularly surpassed expectations; an individual with astounding courage, willpower and tenacity. When someone who is so focused and driven faces a challenge many certainties are shattered and words are dined upon.
It is possible that his moniker as “the fastest man on no legs” may soon be redundant. He may just be the fastest man, period!
This did not hinder him from taking part in just about every school sport imaginable and after a serious rugby injury in June 2003 he entered into a rehabilitation programme at the High Performance Centre at the University of Pretoria that included activity on the track.
He started running in January, 2004, and two months later was competing. Fast forward eight months and he was running against world class athletes at the Athens Paralympics where he became the first amputee to run the 200m in under 22 seconds.
In March 2005 he placed sixth in the 400m for “able-bodied” persons at the South African Championships.
He is the world record holder for amputees in the 100, 200 and 400m events. In twelve months he broke his own world record nineteen times! In September 2007 he again broke the 400m world record!
In January 2008 the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) found the prosthetic “blades” or “Cheetahs” gave him an unfair advantage over “able-bodied” athletes. They claimed that the “blades” needed 25% less energy than so-called “able-bodied” persons did to run at similar speeds and also that there was a 30% advantage because of loss or energy in the ankle joint of people with ankles.
Sceptics argued that by this rationale Paralympians should hold all of the world track records! The study also did not take into account the psychological effects and trauma of such an operation and of growing up with the disability.
In a two-day hearing earlier this month the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), observing evidence from independent tests done by Hugh M Herr of the Michigan Institute of Technology (MIT), overturned the IAAF ruling and allowed Pistorius to compete against the “able-bodied” and therefore in the August Beijing Olympics.
He needs to improve his personal best time by one second in the 400m to qualify; a Herculean feat as his training has been set back by the appeal to the CAS.
Those in the know say that the “blade runner” is not much of a threat and it is highly unlikely that he will return to SA with a medal. However, one must observe that this is a man who has regularly surpassed expectations; an individual with astounding courage, willpower and tenacity. When someone who is so focused and driven faces a challenge many certainties are shattered and words are dined upon.
It is possible that his moniker as “the fastest man on no legs” may soon be redundant. He may just be the fastest man, period!
