An article on ESPN about Oscar Pistorius

could you really? do you know this for a fact? So why doesn\'t some guy who can only run 47 just cut off his legs and then wow we could have someone who can run 37 for a new world record right? Jackasses like you and the brojos who are calling for him to be banned are completely ignorant. It is not like this is just some new thing for him, he has dealt with his his whole life. Might as well have been genetic for him, so I guess we should ban black people from running, their genetics just allow them to run faster. But I am sure it must just be a walk in the park for him to run with prosthetics, probably doesn\'t even have to train or anything, just go-go gadget legs and it\'s easy right? I guess Bolt should be banned too because he has unfair mechanical advantages over everyone else. I mean let\'s think, is it fair that Bolt, 6\'5 or 6\'6 gets to run against someone like Travis Padgett who is probably shorter than 5\'9? Given everything equal, Bolt wins because of his levers, the length. Until athletes start cutting off their own legs in order to make it to the Olympics, this is a non issue. Brojos, you should be ashamed of yourselves for ever even suggesting this CLEAN athlete be banned. But I guess you pride yourselves on that kind of stuff.

Oscar Pistorius is four seconds faster than anybody in his class in the world. By this "research" it is being suggested that if he were able bodied he would only be able to run 57-60 seconds for the 400. So we are supposed to believe that out of hundreds of thousands of athletes eligible for the paralympics, only one of them would have the ability to break 60 seconds in the 400 meter run without their condition? Hell, in every single 20 person high school PE class in the nation there is at least one if not more kids that could run that or faster.

I understand the science, but their have to be other variables that are being overlooked. To say this fit guy that has dedicated his life to training to run 400 meters would only be able to run an absolutely pedestrian mid to high 50 seconds without his prosthesis is just silly.

quithatingpeople wrote:

Might as well have been genetic for him, ...

But it's not. He has mechanical devices attached to his body. I respect the hell out of what he has done, but there is absolutely no way anyone can say he is competing on and EQUAL basis. Maybe he has a disadvantage, maybe he has an advantage. If we eventually come to be sure he has an overall disadvantage everything he had done will be more impressive and one person will have been given less than his due. If, however, there is ever enough evidence to show that he was getting an advantage, every other runner he beat will have been cheated out of what should have been their glory and position.

Get a grip dude.

Solid rebuttle on your end, I have no comeback for that one, just silenced. The fact is no one will ever truly know if these aid him or not, because no one will ever know what he COULD run given the function of normal legs. Yes he allegedly has to put less force in the ground, but how much force could he put in the ground given he did not have prosthetics? No one knows. And if this was the case, yeah why aren't there more runners with prosthetics who are running as fast or faster? Given their data, I would assume somewhere in this world there is a guy who could run a 52, who maybe lost his legs, who should be running 42s with these limbs, but there isn't. Why aren't all other athletes in the paralympics running similar times? You can't tell me those athletes behind Pistorius in the 2008 Games are all 60 second plus 400m guys, able bodied. With as much training as they do, they would be well faster than 60 in the open, able bodied. When the day comes that athletes are willing to have their legs surgically removed in order to "run faster" then lets consider this performance enhancing, but until then give the man credit for overcoming performance inhibiting circumstances.

No one is hating Oscar Pistorius. He is an exceptional athlete, but in this humble runner's opinion (one shared by many in the track and field community) he does not belong in competition with able bodied athletes. Aside from the purely mechanical advantages of his prosthetic limbs, such as reduced impact and less dampening, mechanical limbs do not fatigue like normal humans do. There is no such thing as lactic acid build up in prostheses.

You are very emotional about this issue, and that is understandable, but this should be a debate purely concerning fairness of the competition. No one is denying the struggles Oscar faces or the way he has brilliantly overcome the challenges his disabilities impose, but it is my opinion that these things should not enter into the discussion as they are not relevant to whether it is fair for Oscar to compete in events with able bodied athletes. I am not say I am the one who should make that decision, but I do think the IAAF needs to review this issue with closer scrutiny than they previously have.

quithatingpeople wrote:

The fact is no one will ever truly know if these aid him or not, because no one will ever know what he COULD run given the function of normal legs.

That doesn't make sense. You don't need a baseline to know if he's benefitting from his prosthetics. For example, if a guy is born without arms and someone attaches a canon to his shoulder (literally) and he puts the shot 200 yards would you say the same thing? I hope not.

I don't buy the idea that he's barely a sub 60 guy with legs, but it's obvious he has an advantage in the latter half of races because he's carrying a lighter load below the knee and he doesn't have crud in his calves.

I would like him to run under 43 and then I think we'd all realize he's definitely running with an aid.

AGAIN, why are so many others with the same prothetics NOT running the same times? And if this is the case why does he not move up to the 800 then? I bet there sure is lactic build up in his thighs. I think it does go back to the articles comment that a lot of it has to do with those who he is beating, they feel less of a man for losing to someone with half his legs. No one had a problem with him running 48s or 49s, and no its not the same as someone strapping a cannon to their arm moron. Equivalent to that would be robotic legs that oscar didnt event have to move to run. I believe this is bordering on straight discrimination to be honest. This is Oscar and who he has been since very early on. He hasn't been running these times forever, it isn't like he was a US soldier who maybe lost his legs in Iraq two years ago and now look he is running incredible times. He has been training just like every other regular person to drop these times. And you people would like to see him banned because it is unfair to everyone else?? Regardless, Oscar is doing it the only way he knows how and the honest way. Hell you have banned drug cheats that are head college coaches out there and no one is saying WHY IS THIS ALLOWED??? I say until every other athlete with the same prothesis starts running sub 46s, hell even many sub 50, which there aren't, then eyebrows be raised.

Your first sentence is not a strong argument. Imagine if an able bodied runner started running 41s, suspicious no? He doesn't run the 800 because he couldn't negotiate the pack.

If he can run that fast without springs attached to his legs, no one will complain.

Can you imagine if a normal person invented shoes with a carbon fiber spring on the bottom, took 5 seconds off their 400 time, and wanted to run in the olympics? There is no way that shit would be allowed. If you really want Oscar to be treated the same as everyone else, he must be subject to the same rules.

What is the sample size for highly trained 400m runners with his specific prosthetics?

What's wrong with discrimination? It's not a dirty word. We all discriminate. In this case, it's legitimate - nobody with prosthetics that give one an advantage over able bodied runners get to race in the Olympics. Discrimination? Yes. Unfair? No.

I guess we will just have to wait and see after the WC's. If he runs a WR will you admit that he had an advantage?

They aren't actual springs so the comparison to those with shoes, doesn't equate. Ok say this guy is running in the NCAA, wins a National Title. Do you think that the NCAA would strip his title? In all honestly, don't just say yes for the sake of arguing. There are some pretty tough legal channels that would prevent the NCAA from doing that based on that word, discrimination. So yes, it can be a dirty word. Pretty similar to the wrestler at Arizona State, the fact he was missing one leg decreased his weight, yet he had an advantage over many, many others in his weight class due to his superior upper body strength equivalent to those in much higher weight classes. People were not pleased he was allowed to wrestle in these classifications due to the fact he was missing a leg, and quite a bit of weight due to that. Some also thought it was tougher to wrestle him because he only had one leg to protect from takedowns and maneuvers. So I guess he should be banned from wrestling able bodied athletes because he has an unfair advantage over them. One thing no one can argue about, let the dude run because at least it will provide even more spotlight on the track world and get Americans watching more track during the Oympics.

Dude hasn't even come close to the World Record so that's an ignorant statement. I'd say if he breaks the WR it's not because of the prosthetics but because of the roids coarsing through his veins he would have to take to break it.

"The fact is no one will ever truly know if these aid him or not,"

Actually, we all know. Take away his prosthetic legs and he can't run at all.

quithatingpeople wrote:

They aren't actual springs so the comparison to those with shoes, doesn't equate.

Yes, they are springs. If you were smarter, you would know that springs do not have to be coils.

quithatingpeople wrote:

Dude hasn't even come close to the World Record so that's an ignorant statement. I'd say if he breaks the WR it's not because of the prosthetics but because of the roids coarsing through his veins he would have to take to break it.

Well with a progression like his he will shatter it.

Someone did make shoes with springs in them. Spira. They are banned from all major competitions because they are perceived to give the tiniest advantage over normal shoes.

The wrestler is not a comparable example. He is still using just his body - nothing artificial added.

the writer of the article is a retarded whiner who thinks that anyone suggesting that someone disabled could get any advantage is evil. BAN PISTORIOUS!!