Pistorious the Blade Runner
Due to the current Olympic Games, there has been much controversy surrounding Oscar Pistorious of South Africa. Pistorious is an amputee as he was born without legs from his knees down. As a consequence he walks on curved, composite carbon fibre in replacement of his legs. This structure is called OssurFlex-Foot Cheetahs and the Court of Arbitration for Sport decided that Oscar Pistorious was legally allowed to compete in IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federation) in 2008.
However, Pistorious did not achieve this opportunity without adversity as the same Federation, one year earlier, proved that these "Cheetah Blades" gave him an advantage over able bodied runners.
The particular controversy surround Pistorious is the question of whether he should compete in the Olympics and Paralympics. He recently just competed in the 400m mens track event and the 4x400m relay and made it to the semi-finals but was unfortunately eliminated.
Pistorious is the first man to compete with a disability in the Olympics, however any Paralympian is allowed to as long as meet the requirements of the Board and prove they do not have any subsequent advantages.
Some critics have considered him to pose an unfair advantage over the other competitors and thus poses society with the questions what is a disability? And what is the rationale for elite sport? Here is what he has to say...
Pistorious lives by the following quote...
Despite his amazing achievement, Oscar Pistorious is faced with continual negative attention surrounding his disability and competing in the Olympics.
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