Random Oscar Pistorius Question

[YoullLaughAboutItOneDay]

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?

Very sneaky peerie
But I still love him so you still have competition.

Not all visually impaired athletes run with a guide in the Paralympics.

Usain Bold cannot run in the Paralympics because it is specifically for disabled athletes - what a really daft thing to say. The Olympics, however, does not specify able bodied athletes only.

The Paralympics are for disabled athletes full stop. Why should some be excluded for being too good?

But there is then the risk that someone like him who feels he can compete against able-bodied athletes should automatically win once competing against disabled ones, because he is better than them, as he is able to compete where most don't even dare to dream.

He will win if he is better than the competition. That is what competition is all about.

I think that the T44 category has become more competitive in recent years. When Oscar P first appeared, an American T43 sprinter (can't remember his name) tried to get him removed from T43, as he argued that a double amputee has better balance than a single one.

I was half-expecting a slew of stories from "anonymous athletes" trashing Oscar - "his self-effacing-sweetie act is a millimetre deep, he's really an evil wicked bully who wendys the other athletes, and steals all the best yoghurts at breakfast, leaving everyone with the manky banana ones" - but there have been none. I'm not sure what that means.

I think it means he likes banana yoghurt.

Banana yogurt is my favourite. It is hard to find. It's a sign. Or something.

If that is true, I've really gone off him.

On another note, apparently he stole his Olympic duvet and took it home with him.

Everyone nicked the duvets. I think it was allowed.

How does one 'wendy' someone? Very curious!

Even those who strongly disagree with his comments have said how out of character it is for him and what a brilliant sportsman he has always been.

I think he was stunned to have lost and said what he did in the heat of the moment. It's a shame but I hope people remember that nobody has done more to not only raise the profile of disabled sport but to make it cool.

My 7 year old son and all his mates are all desperate for bladerunner legs!

I would be very sad if this comment overshadowed all he's achieved.

Wendying

Nancy66

It is possible to have those blade things attached to your feet or lower legs. I don't know how it works but I've seen a few in the streets round here. I know that the walkers (jumpers) are not amputees because they are far too tall (6-7 feet in the blades).

And were some not dancing around during the torch relays?

They are Powerisers or pogo stilts Rule, they are like having individual pogo sticks on your feet and not quite the same though they do look great fun (DH wants some) :)

There were some entertainers with those on when they interviewed the Irish team before they went in during the opening ceremony :)

Another one with boys who want some!

Christmas present maybe...?

Oscar has raised a real question. I dont think there is an answer

SoupDragon I'm not sure that that's what I saw but, at that price, it's a Christmas present I will not be buying.

It would be the only present :o apart from a season ticket to park at A&E

Oh no it would take more than this to put me off him

Ben Rushgrove: Oscar Pistorius shouldn't have run in the Olympics - blades are an advantage. > Ben Rushgrove is a sprinter who has cerebral palsy and competes in T36 classification disability events. He is competing in the 100m and 200m in London

But if blades are an advantage he would have won or at least been placed, surely? He's at the peak of his fitness and works bloody hard. They have disadvantages against legs and advantages. I guess the IOC decided that the two balanced out.

I think it is virtually impossible to prove or disprove whether there is an advantage or disadvantage as there is no way of knowing what an athlete would be like with the alternative.

Part of me thinks that if they were such an advantage, running shoes for able bodied athletes would incorporate the technology/design somehow. No idea if this is possible of course :)

Hmm, they might not get ankle injuries but they get blisters and bruises from where the prosthetic joins flesh so the bit about them being able to train for longer doesn't hold water.

I also read that (in comparison to an able bodied runner) it is virtually impossible for a blade runner to get a good sprint start from the blocks - which puts Pisotrorius at a distinct disadvantage

The blades give them slow starts, are shite in wet conditions and are not good on the bends. However they actually get faster as the race goes on because of the returning tension in the springs, compared to the tiring leg muscles of the 'normal' runner. No build up of lactic acid in the lower legs.