Life in the Fast Lane

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The fastest man with no legs, Oscar Pistorius — aka “Blade Runner” — won his battle on Friday for his long-awaited place to compete as a runner in the Olympics. The South African world-class sprinter from Sandton, Gauteng Province had been disqualified from competing on the Olympics or any other sanctioned able-bodied competitions on January 14 2008 when the ruling found his ‘Cheetah Flex-Feet’ racing blades to be ‘technical aids’ that give him a clear advantage.

Photo AP

The 21-year old runner was born with no fibula — the outer bone between the knee and ankle — in both of his legs which were amputated halfway between the knee and ankle when he was 11 months old.

Between the ages of 11 and 13, Oscar played rugby union at Pretoria Boys’ High School, water polo and tennis at the state level, and took part in club Olympic wrestling. After a serious rugby knee injury, he was introduced to running in January 2004 while undergoing rehabilitation, and never looked back.

Photo AP

With a human spirit unparalleled only by his performance as a long sprinter, Oscar took to his carbon fiber prosthetics like a speed-demon, with records in 100, 200, and 400 events, achieving the 400 meter Paralympic world record of 46.56 seconds.

He became too fast for his own good when contention arose that his stride may be longer and more repeated than for other men his height, that his prosthetics were lighter and springier, and the absence of lactic acid build-up that other athletes are afflicted with, as some argued that Oscar was not disabled, but rather “too-abled.”

Photo AP

Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius competed in his first international able-bodied race in a Golden League meet in Rome in 2007, finishing 2nd in his heat and besting 7 other pros.

He was running last place for most of the race until the final 70 meters, and seemed to run the second half of the race as fast or even faster than the first half, surpassing his competitors in the final strides. Other professional runners charge out of the blocks and attempt to slow down as slowly as possible.

Photo AP

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) assigned Peter Brüggemann, a professor at the German Sport University, to examine Pistorius’ blades last November.

The professor found that Oscar could run at the same speed as able-bodied runners on about a quarter less energy, adding that once the runners hit a certain stride, athletes with artificial limbs require less additional energy than other athletes.

Defense was that Pistorius runs the second half of races faster because it takes him more time to get his blades up to speed as he has to stand straight up out of the blocks and generate power almost entirely with his hips — since his start is slow, it takes him time to get into a rhythm.

Photo AP

Oscar’s legal team appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and presented evidence from biomechanics experts suggesting that if Brüggemann had taken the entirety of his body mechanics into account — and not just his substitute ankle joint — the professor would have found that he does not compete at an advantage.

The court was convinced that the prosthetics did not help him run faster and reinstated Pistorius on Friday, and IAAF president Lamine Diack said, “Oscar will be welcomed wherever he competes this summer. He is inspirational.”

“I am ecstatic.” said Pistorius. “When I found out I cried. I think this day will go down in history for the equality of disabled people.”

Photos AP

With his world record of 46.56 seconds, he will need to gain at least one second to reach the Olympic qualifying standard of 45.55 for a place at Beijing this summer.

Even so, he could be selected for South Africa’s 4 x 400-meter relay team. Sibusiso Sishi — a top South African quarter-miler — will almost certainly be picked for the relay.

Last year Sishi said that he doesn’t “mind racing [Pistorius], but I’m still a bit skeptical about his legs because they are man made. They are carbon fiber, which means they are nice and light. I would just like him to do the tests so at least we know where we stand.”

Photo AFP / Andrew Yates

Contention may still remain, as it isn’t possible to entirely measure all the advantages and disadvantages that Pistorius’ Cheetahs bestow compared to his able-bodied counterparts. Even after considerable testing, some say it’s still not completely clear where things stand.

But one thing that is certain is that Oscar Pistorius has won the right to race at Beijing’s National Stadium.

Photo Virgin Media

Erik Weihenmayer — the first blind person to climb Mount Everest — wrote in an essay that Pistorius was “on the cusp of a paradigm shift in which disability becomes ability, disadvantage becomes advantage. Yet we mustn’t lose sight of what makes an athlete great. It’s too easy to credit Pistorius’ success to technology. Through birth or circumstance, some are given certain gifts, but it’s what one does with those gifts, the hours devoted to training, the desire to be the best, that is at the true heart of a champion.”

Oscar made the ’2008 TIME 100′ — Time magazine’s annual list of the world’s most influential people — in May 2008, appearing 3rd in the “Heroes & Pioneers” section.

His motto is, “You’re not disabled by the disabilities you have, you are able by the abilities you have.”

UPDATE:

Sadly, it has been reported that Oscar’s run of miracles has failed him for the time being.

His last hope of making South Africa’s Olympic team for Beijing 2008 has been dashed after the country’s track and field body confirmed he didn’t make their 400 meter relay team.

The sprinter had hoped his personal best qualifying time of 46.25sec would be good enough to win him a place in the relay, despite the fact it was outside the Olympic requirement of 45.55sec. But Athletics South Africa president Leonard Chuene stated on July 18th that 4 other runners had posted faster times.

“I have to be realistic. I haven’t run in about a year.” said Pistorius at an athletics meeting in Milan in early July. “London 2012 is a more realistic target. Sprinters usually reach their peak between 26 and 29. I will be 25 in London and I’ll also have two, three years’ preparation.”

We’ll be rooting for you Oscar.

Sources: The Sun, Sports Illustrated, Guardian, and Wikipedia

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