Joe Soriano
O.J. LewisPistorious Victorious in Appeal
May 17th 2008 03:46
Oscar Pictorious pare-athlete and Olympic hopeful.
Most people have probably never heard the name Oscar Pistorious. He is a South African track & field runner who, thanks to winning an appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), is once again an Olympic hopeful. You see, Pistorious is nicknamed "Blade Runner", a name he has because of the Ossur Cheetah Flex Foot Prosthetics he must use. He was born with no fibula bones in his legs and at 11 months old had to have both legs amputated below the knees.
In school, he had competed in rugby, water polo, tennis, and wrestling. He didn't start running competitively until January 2004 after he injured a knee while playing rugby. The Blade Runner went on to win the gold in the 200 meters and a bronze in the 100 meters at the Paralympic Games in Athens just a few months later. He also set the Paralympic world records in the 100M, 200M, and 400M.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in January ruled that the artificial legs he uses give him an unfair advantage over "able-bodied" athletes he would be competing against. Professor Gert-Peter Bruggemann had done the testing for the IAAF and ruled that the prosthetics were "energy efficient" and gave him a mechanical advantage. Pistorius appealed the ruling in February.
The CAS has now overturned that decision on the strength of independent evidence showing that Pistorius gains no mechanical advantage when using his prosthetic legs. He commented on the decision, "I'm ecstatic. I was really confident that we had a great, watertight case we had put in front of CAS, but you still go into it with some nerves. We have the opportunity once again to compete at an Olympics, if not in 2008, then in London in 2012. For me, this has also become a human rights issue."
Pistorius's battle isn't over yet; he still must qualify for the South African Olympic Team. The minimum Olympic qualifying time for the 400 Meters is 45.95 seconds, or 45.55 if another South African runs less than 45.95. However, if he fails to qualify, the South African team could pick him to be on their 4 X 400 meter relay team. He would not need to qualify for that event.
Regardless of whether or not he qualifies or competes in the relay, Pistorious is making great strides (and the CAS has made it official, with no mechanical advantage) for para-athletes everywhere. If he does compete at the 2008 Beijing games, it would surely be the feel-good story of the event.
Oscar Pistorious's Times in Comparison:
100M
Pistorious - 10.91 sec (Paralympic World Record)
Asafa Powell - 9.74 sec (World Record)
200M
Pistorious - 21.58 sec (Paralympic World Record)
Michael Johnson 19.32 sec (World Record)
400M
Pistorious - 46.34 sec (Paralympic World Record)
Michael Johnson - 43.18 sec (World Record)
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