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Original poster

Random Oscar Pistorius Question

152 replies

YoullLaughAboutItOneDay · 31/08/2012 13:59

I have a question about Oscar Pistorius I am hoping someone can answer. All my Google search terms just return general articles and I am going a bit Paralympics crazy with all my background questions about the events, classifications and athletes so I am desperate to know!

He competes as T44 (single amputee) even though he is classified T43 (double amputee). Is this because the single amputee category is faster and more competitive?

Also, he had a big legal battle to compete in the Olympics over whether his carbon fibre legs gave him an advantage. Was there ever any similar controversy over him competing as T44?

OP posts:
ceebeegeebies · 03/09/2012 14:25

Are you willing to share? Wink

foofooyeah · 03/09/2012 15:36

You lot just had me googling pics of him ... and yes, he was looking hot in the specs Grin

Yummymummyyobe1 · 03/09/2012 15:44

Oscar Pistorius Showed his true colors by whinging when he did not win, poor sportsmanship if ever I saw it and I hope he is remembered this way. I hate a sore looser and this was what happened. I didn't win so I will throw my toys out of the pram, poor me, look at me I didn't win but I still want it to be all about me me me.

I hope he is beaten many more times so that he comes to learn that to be a true sportsman you have to be humble when ahead and dignified in defeat. (I am stepping off my soapbox now)

ArielThePiraticalMermaid · 03/09/2012 15:55

Thank you for that yummy Hmm.

I think one thing Oscar has learned over the years is how to be a sportsman. I think what he may be driving at is that the manner of the Brazilian guy's victory may suggest that he has an advantage with the blades he has.

However he is opening up rather a can of worms there. Unless you can get to the stage where every single athlete there is using the same type of chair or the same blades, then there will always be debate about victories. However if you go down that road, then maybe ALL the cyclists should be using the same bikes. And ALL the rowers the same boats and all the F1 teams the same cars. Where does it end?

Pinot · 03/09/2012 16:02

He's allowed to make a mistake, I hope everyone forgives him.

He is human, and fallable, just like you or I. Being a sportsman doesn't make you a machine, immune to emotions and actually if he uses this opportunity to right his wrong, that will (IMO) be a great example to kids that everyone gets it wrong sometimes but what matters is how you deal with it afterwards.

Yummymummyyobe1 · 03/09/2012 16:08

Of course he is human but to me there is a time and a place and if he had won or there had been a photo finish would he have complained I think not. All the blades were checked and legal for the race so that was an invalid comment about blade length.

Being a sportsman should mean that the best man won which in this race was another competitor (all equipment was checked, so the race was fair) he should have conceded defeat with dignity and accepted the decision as final. By doing what he did is saying to children that it is the winning that matters more than the taking part.

Beanbagz · 03/09/2012 16:12

Just out of interest - is he running the 400m too? Just realised it's one of the events i'll see on Saturday night!

Pinot · 03/09/2012 16:19

He is, Beanbagz, yep

mollymole · 03/09/2012 16:26

What Pistoruis said, in the heat of the moment, was not at the right time. However, the Brazilian guy was not the only one who had blades that looked disproportionate to his body size, and I say this as some one has has worked in both first and final call at international disability athletics meets. I would have expected this to have been queried by the track referee/tech guys before any one got as far as the track and would have to assume that this was done.
Perhaps a statement is due from whoever checked the blades

SoupDragon · 03/09/2012 16:31

I think they did make a statement to the effect that they were within legal limits.

Myliferocks · 03/09/2012 16:37

Sorry if this has been said already but Oscar Pistorius can have longer blades if he wants for the paralympicsas the calculations that are used means he can but he chooses not to because then he wouldn't have been able to compete at the olympic as the iaaf have said he can't compete with the longer blades.

LeeCoakley · 03/09/2012 16:46

They were debating the length of the blades on the TV a little while ago and made the comment that his blades have to be suited to where his own legs stop. Also watching the replay and don't understand Oscar's comment that Olivera's stride was increased because it looks like Olivera takes a lot of smaller strides compared to Oscar. (Maybe I have the wrong end of the stick)

Quodlibet · 03/09/2012 16:50

Isn't there also an issue with blade length if double amputees are competing against people who are on one blade? The people on single blades obviously have to match their blade length to their existing leg so can't choose whether they would like longer or shorter ones. It seems strange therefore that the T43s have a degree of choice in the matter from what I understand...

LeeCoakley · 03/09/2012 16:55

Yes, won't double blades always outrun singles? The races that I saw that was always the case anyway.

LadyBeagleEyes · 03/09/2012 17:18

Yummymummy, it's sore loser, not looser.
Sorry for being a pedant, but that spelling mistake really annoys me.

SoupDragon · 03/09/2012 18:06

Don't you think that the experts on Paralympic events have thought through the way they categorise runners and whether it is as fair as possible?

amothersplaceisinthewrong · 03/09/2012 18:08

I think personally that it is impossible to get a level playing field at the Paralympics. that's why I don't like them.

SoupDragon · 03/09/2012 18:12

I think it is as level as it can be.

Having just seen a reply of the end of the race, the winners legs are moving faster, his strides aren't longer.

SoupDragon · 03/09/2012 18:14

Nothing is a level playing field when you take into account the quality of equipment, support and training facilities.

cardibach · 03/09/2012 18:16

He did say at the time that he didn;t want to take away from the winner's performance and that he waqs a great athlete, so not so very sore. And actually, he made a complaint about the blades after the heats, when he broke the world record, so it wasn;t about that as far as I can see. It was an unfortunate time to speak, though.

RuleBritannia · 03/09/2012 19:20

LadyBeagleEyes I'll back you there. I don't like 'loose' when it should read 'lose' either. (Or losing and loosing)

Gilberte · 03/09/2012 20:20

IMO he was just completely devastated by his loss and shocked by the nature of his defeat (being beaten on the line having led comfortably over the last 100 metres).

Yes he shouldn't have said what he did when he did but a journalist had just stuck a microphone in his face before he'd had time to process his emotions. Then pushed him a bit when she knew he'd implied something about his opponents.

I'm sure we've all had moments when we've said the wrong thing in the heat of the moment and regretted it afterwards- we don't have to do it on camera though.

TiggyD · 03/09/2012 20:28

Bad loser. He didn't run his best. He should have picked the right legs for the event. The Brazilian did nothing wrong and could have chosen legs an inch longer if he had wanted. Stride length my arse. The Brazilian took more strides.

iismum · 03/09/2012 20:33

I think Pistorius is in the right about this. As far as I understand it, the IOC worked out very carefully how long the blades should be so that they would give him the same height he would have had if he had legs (based on the length of the tibia, I think). The IPC (paralympics) have looser rules which allow longer blades, giving you a height greater than you would naturally have. So arguments based on him trying to have it both ways, by claiming blades give an unfair advantage but then wanting to compete on an equal footing in the able-bodies olympics are not valid - blades do not give an advantage if they give you your natural height, but they do if they give you a greater height (and hence stride length) than you would normally have.

He could also use longer blades in the paralympics, but this would leave him unable to compete in the olympics - something which the IPC should surely be encouraging. So this is unfair and should be tightened up.

Obviously, he chose a terrible time to bring it up - though I think it is a bit unfair to insist on interviewing people right after a devastating loss. It's also not clear what difference it would have made in this particular race, given the stride length observed and so on. But in principle I think he is right that the policy should be the same between the two games, and that blade length should not increase natural height.

iismum · 03/09/2012 20:35

By the way, it was pretty rough on the Brazilian guy, and the BBC interview was terrible - right into 'so what do you think about these accusations' without even bothering to congratulate him on winning. The Brazilian guy did do nothing wrong, and Pistorius wasn't claiming that he did - just that the regulations should have been tighter. But obviously it really took the shine off his victory.

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