Pistorius, 25, Is First Double-Amputee Sprinter to Compete in Olympic Games by Niki2

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Pistorius, 25, Is First Double-Amputee Sprinter to Compete in Olympic Games

POSTED BY: NIKI2
UPDATED: Sunday, August 12, 2012 17:30
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Sunday, August 5, 2012 5:20 AM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

So cool:

Quote:
South Africa's "Blade Runner," Oscar Pistorius, has made good on living up to his other nickname, "the fastest man on no legs."

The four-time Paralympic gold medal winner, 25, qualified for the 400-meter semifinals Saturday, making him the first double-amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympics. He runs on prosthetic legs called Flex-Foot Cheetahs.

Pistorius came in second in his heat, surpassed by Luguelin Santos, 19, of the Dominican Republic. Pistorius ranked 16 in the standings out of the 47 runners who finished their heats Saturday. Twenty-four sprinters advanced to the semi-finals Sunday looking to reach the Monday finals for a chance at Olympic glory.

"Thank you to everyone who has supported me, that was UNBELIEVABLE! Was so amazing to feel the energy from the crowd! Semi-final tomorrow! :)" he tweeted to his followers after the heat.

He ran a seasonal best of 45.44. The 400-meter Olympic record is 43.49, set by American Michael Johnson in 1996 at the Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Pistorius' journey to the top can only be described as miraculous. After he underwent amputation surgery when he was 11 months old, he received his first pair of prosthetic legs at 17 months.

According to his website, Pistorius took up running to bounce back from a rugby injury at the advice of his doctor when he was 16. The next year, he competed in his first Paralympic Games in Athens in 2004 and won a gold medal in the T44 200-meter race, breaking the existing world record in the event where single below-knee amputees and other athletes with equivalent impairments compete.

Of his semi-final qualification at the London 2012 Games, Pistorius took to Twitter to say it felt "surreal."

In the midst of all the craziness in the world, and especially in this country, I find this heartening. Sixteenth out of 47 with legs; that's pretty cool.

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Sunday, August 5, 2012 8:52 AM

FREMDFIRMA

Yah, Ossur makes those - I can't afford them.

There's also been some debate about whether they give him an "unfair" advantage (and honestly, I think they might) over unenhanced humans, but considering the inevitable pain and difficulty of using even the most modern prosthetic equipment I think we can cut him some slack here.

He's also using Iceross gel sleeves shimmed with 3ply or 5ply covers and forward relief cutouts, which is exactly how my own Borgmatic-II is fitted and functions, but I have a triaxial ankle with solid foot attached and a step down clutch array with mechanical fallback.
Of course, these things are supposed to be refitted and/or reconditioned at the minimum of six months and mine hasn't been for near three years and is falling apart....
(and I won't even go into the recent deliberate, malicious SABOTAGE that some asshat at Medicare has been engaging in recently or I'll be here all day)

Still, they're very cool, but also very very expensive.

-Frem

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Sunday, August 5, 2012 1:57 PM

JONGSSTRAW

Very amazing athlete. I need a head of steam just to get up from the couch, so I rock back and forth until enough inertial force is created to propel me to pop up to a standing position. Sometimes I even stick the landing.

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Sunday, August 5, 2012 2:11 PM

MAL4PREZ

Quote:
Originally posted by FREMDFIRMA:
There's also been some debate about whether they give him an "unfair" advantage (and honestly, I think they might) over unenhanced humans, but considering the inevitable pain and difficulty of using even the most modern prosthetic equipment I think we can cut him some slack here.

Yeah. I feel it could be a bit unfair. I could see some "feet" like these being made very springy and letting a person just fucking fly. Strides 10 meters long. Why not?

Hey, I'm all happy this guy competed. Good on him, and long may he keep running! But I'm not sure about artificial feet continuing to "fairly" compete with muscle and bone and sinew. The muscle/bone might lose out as far as a race, I think. Put some kind of springs or elasticity in there, and fully limbed runners will be eating wake. On the other hand the struggles overcome by someone who lost their limbs and managed to do this kind of thing ought to be rewarded.

I don't know. Hard call. I'm so glad I didn't have to judge this. It's an interesting question, and one that I think will be back as technology improves.

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Sunday, August 5, 2012 2:12 PM

MAL4PREZ

Quote:
Originally posted by Jongsstraw:
Very amazing athlete. I need a head of steam just to get up from the couch, so I rock back and forth until enough inertial force is created to propel me to pop up to a standing position. Sometimes I even stick the landing.

LOL! Nicely done. 10 from the Slovenian judge. :)

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Sunday, August 5, 2012 4:30 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

Think about all the tiny things you can do while running - you can adjust your stride in minute ways by how you flex a toe or twist a heel a bit. This guy doesn't get those advantages.

He has advantages in his prosthetics, in a way, I guess. You might want to ask someone who actually uses prosthetics if they feel particularly "advantaged" over people who have their OEM equipment. For all the disadvantages he's dealt with, I think I'll probably give him a pass.

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

"The groin cup and throat protector have about as much ballistic protection as the kneepads I wear when I'm doing a job that requires me to be on my knees." - Troll

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Sunday, August 5, 2012 5:08 PM

MAL4PREZ

Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
Think about all the tiny things you can do while running - you can adjust your stride in minute ways by how you flex a toe or twist a heel a bit. This guy doesn't get those advantages.

He has advantages in his prosthetics, in a way, I guess. You might want to ask someone who actually uses prosthetics if they feel particularly "advantaged" over people who have their OEM equipment. For all the disadvantages he's dealt with, I think I'll probably give him a pass.

Oh no, I have no doubt that in terms of general mobility this guy faces horrible challenges, and I am ready to bow before him and chant my unworthiness. (seriously!) I had hoped that my post addressed as much: my hat is off for him. I doubt I would do a tenth as much if I faced what he does.

I've had an spinal injury that remotely - very remotely - threatened the loss of 2 lumber joints in my lower back. I folded up like a little wimpy bee-atch for two months, rolled in a ball as close as I could, because actually I couldn't BEND at all. (Keep in mind I'm a dancer, bending is my life), took drugs and waited helplessly, like a lump of jello, until a savior with a surgeon's knife sorted out the disks in my spine.

This guy Pistorius did a helluva lot more. This guy rocks.

But back to the artofeet. If you're going to be specialized, design something to make people move forward as quickly as possible without concern for anything else, I think "fake" legs will eventually win out over natural ones. Even with the tweeks for balance and such. Think about it - our natural legs are designed to do *everything* we might need to do. What if our legs only had to sprint straight ahead for a specific distance, then we could pop them off, set them aside, and swap for "general use" leggies for trodding about cocktail parties and such. For mowing the lawn. For driving the car.

We could make that sprinting work with wicked high efficiency, someday. I don't think the current legs used by Pistorius are capable of this quite yet, but it's out there.

Hey - I don't resent that. I think anyone who faces life with parts missing and decides to be an athlete ought to enjoy some perks. But should that compete with those who can't completely specialize one set of limbs, then change to another when the race is over?

I suspect that this was part of the challenge for the judges who allowed this guy to compete, and I find it an incredibly interesting question. What if artificial limbs eventually allow function better than ankles? How do we draw the line between artificial limbs that beat natural limbs at some specialized task and those that don't? We'd need judges who know engineering.

And how about artificial brains? What if I could make my brain link to the net without visible wiring. Should I be allowed to kick ass on Jeopardy?

I think these are real issues that I might not need to address, but the kids I teach will someday. If you don't think it's a very real possibility, you may not be respecting technology enough.

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Sunday, August 5, 2012 6:04 PM

PEACEKEEPER

Keeping order in every verse

It gives him no advantage whatsoever. This is not the first time he has competed against so called able bodied athletes, and when it gets down to the later heats, the better athletes always leave him dead last.

The prosthetics dont give him a great start from the blocks, because he has no "real" impact from the track.A lack of ankles and calf muscles dont give him the anaerobic power required for the initial drive. It may be easier to run when in full flight, but you still need the aerobic flow through the lungs to endure any kind of distance. Lactic acid builds up in the legs during "normal" running technique, but Oscar, having nothing below the knee, builds up too much of it in the thighs and thus tires earlier.

The prosthetics make him lighter on his feet, so to speak,but contribute nothing to the overall physical conditioning required to run such a brutal distance in any kind of world beating time.

I have massive respect for the guy for trying to compete on an able bodied level, but, sadly, I dont think anybody of his ilk will ever make any serious inroads. You just cant beat feet, unfortunately.

On a side note, while we're on the subject of Athletics, what's your take on Justin Gatlin??? Has he always been a complete wanker????

With the grace of age, commander, we learn to accept.

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Monday, August 6, 2012 6:10 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

You and me both, Jong. Exactly what I TRY to do, although doing it from a rocking recliner doesn't work as well!

I also have the problem of my "landing" being balanced...sometimes I look just like some of those Russian gals doing the vault...a step to the side, etc. Tho' I never manage their "bounce" to retain balance...if only...

What's even funnier for me is that I'm surrounded with little tables holding my various "tools" (different ones for either pruning plants or making signs), so I have to step OVER stuff to get up and get back to the recliner. I give a lot of thought to that one "step", and sometimes even THEN don't make the mark!

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Sunday, August 12, 2012 5:30 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

What Peacekeeper said. I saw lots of him, Olympics has been my main focus these last few weeks, you may not know it but I'm an Olympics junkie, been glued to my TV. He didn't seem to have an advantage, they investigated it and found that he didn't, and what I saw of his performances and competitions showed me that as well.

I have Kathy Bates on speed dial, mwa ha ha ha (in exaggeratedly evil voice)

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya.

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