Oscar Pistorius

[Langeveldt]

The "Fastest Man on no legs" who has earned the right to compete through sheer weight of performance with able bodied athletes is causing a bit of a storm at the moment in the world of Athletics..

Personally I disagree with him being able to run with able bodied athletes.. Okay its inspirational, but the credibility of a sport shouldn't be compromised for the sake of one man.. I can see his "blades" being a real advantage, and with the advances in technology that are so apparent, how long is it going to be before someone can make an artificial leg that can outrun a human one? Why is that fair?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Pistorius

 

[Matteh]

Personally don't think he should be able to race with able-bodied people due to the advantages of that system.

 

[steds]

Saw his race yesterday, and his interview afterwards. ****'s got a big mouth. Doesn't know his place. I have no opinions myself on him racing with able bodied people. If he can and he's allowed, good luck to him, but someone needs to shut him up.

 

[Goughy]

From how I understand the situation (his old school is at the end of my street and everyone seems to know him) is that he gains no advantage and is in fact at a disadvantage compared to able-bodied athletes.

However, I wouldnt let him run as it suddenly opens up a can of worms. Currently there is a clearly defined line about what is allowed or not. If he is allowed to compete then any future athlete must be judged on a case by case basis and from a nice, clear, orderly situation there becomes a mess over what is allowed and Im sure there will be court cases in the future with other athletes with different issues who have not been allowed to compete.

Also, he is never going to be able to be close to competetive with his times so really any invites he gets to events will be mainly for the 'news' appeal rather than any sporting reason.

On a seperate note. He trains really hard and is damn quick and he is someone to admire and respect.

 

[Langeveldt]

I'm not sure how you can tell if he gains an advantage or not.. I mean, nobody has seen him run with a real pair of legs, so how can you tell what he is capable (or not) of?

 

[open365]

Well i read in the paper (the sunday Times) that some sports institute did some analysing and found that his 100m split times acctualy get quicker whereas able bodied athletes run slower towards the end, this apparently is due to the energy returns from having carbon fibre legs.

Meaning no dis respect to the guy, but i think it'd be utterly ridiculous if he was allowed to compete as he's got carbon fibre for lower legs and everyone else has working muscles, it's just not right.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Invitational meets that don't matter - great.
Olympic and World Championships - no.

 

[Perm]

Well it is a very inspirational case I don't think he should be allowed to race with able bodied athletes, I mean we have the Paralympics for a reason.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Also, he is never going to be able to be close to competetive with his times so really any invites he gets to events will be mainly for the 'news' appeal rather than any sporting reason.

Tend to agree with that comment, it'd turn into something like Michelle Wie playing in the mens golfing arena despite clearly not being good enough.

 

[age_master]

Well it is a very inspirational case I don't think he should be allowed to race with able bodied athletes, I mean we have the Paralympics for a reason.

I agree, in some cases it is a huge disadvantage but in others it is actually an advantage - definitely not a level playing field.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Let him run if his times justify it. At the moment they do not & he's being given a place in the "A" finals of athletics meetings becuase of the (undoubted) novelty value.

He's merely an exceptional paralympian. If his blades were such a big advantage he wouldn't consistently whip the arses of other disabled athletes who use them too.

 

[Fiery]

Until he actually starts beating the fastest guys let him run I say

 

[open365]

Until he actually starts beating the fastest guys let him run I say

Hypotheticaly then, what happens if he starts beating the best? Do we turn round and say you're too good to run?

 

[Fiery]

Hypotheticaly then, what happens if he starts beating the best? Do we turn round and say you're too good to run?

yes

 

[Langeveldt]

So why let him compete if he's not allowed to win?

 

[Fiery]

So why let him compete if he's not allowed to win?

He wants to compete. Let him compete. He's not going to seriously start beating the best able-bodied runners anyway without technical improvements to his prosthetic limbs. Maybe a rule where he has to race with the ones he got now

 

[Piper]

I think he should be able to run against able-bodied athletes. He has beaten everyone in his events and have three world records in 100m, 200m, and 400m. I think he should be able to run, if the IAAF have a problem with his blades why don't they do what they do with the pole vault? The pole has to fit into regulations set by the IAAF so they should be able to do that with his blades. If the pole vaulters didn't have the pole they wouldn't be able to pole vault. If Oscar didn't have his blades he wouldn't be able to run.

 

[Matteh]

I think able-bodied athletes should participate in the paralympics, because they would beat everyone in those events and could set new paralympic records.

Point is, you can't merge the two without problems. Same with Mens/Female competitions, look how awful Sorenstam is in Men's golf.

 

[open365]

I think he should be able to run against able-bodied athletes. He has beaten everyone in his events and have three world records in 100m, 200m, and 400m. I think he should be able to run, if the IAAF have a problem with his blades why don't they do what they do with the pole vault? The pole has to fit into regulations set by the IAAF so they should be able to do that with his blades. If the pole vaulters didn't have the pole they wouldn't be able to pole vault. If Oscar didn't have his blades he wouldn't be able to run.

Yes but everyone in the pole vault has a pole, i'm pretty sure Pistorius would be the only guy running on carbon fibre limbs.

 

[open365]

I think able-bodied athletes should participate in the paralympics, because they would beat everyone in those events and could set new paralympic records.

Point is, you can't merge the two without problems. Same with Mens/Female competitions, look how awful Sorenstam is in Men's golf.

Anyone remember the Mexican basketball team?