When I saw the Youtube video, my immediate take was that it was very  =

unfair for Oscar Pistorius to be allowed to run.
Of course, the Olympics are entertainment ( bread and circuses ) so  =

maybe anything should go.
cc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D1so1ZMgpg2w

  Panel backs amputee sprinter's Olympic quest
By Joshua Robinson
Published: May 16, 2008


Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee sprinter who was barred from able- =

bodied competition in January, will be allowed to pursue his dream of  =

qualifying for the Olympic Games after an unexpected decision by the  =

Court of Arbitration for Sport. The Court, an international panel  =

which has final say over legal matters in sport, overturned the  =

International Association of Athletics Federations' ban, ruling in  =

effect that Pistorius' carbon fiber prosthetic blades do not give him  =

an unfair advantage.

The court came to a decision after hearing expert testimony from  =

Pistorius's camp and the IAAF, track and field's governing body, on  =

April 29 and 30 in Lausanne, Switzerland. It published its opinion in  =

a statement at 9 a.m., Eastern time.The IAAF had declared Pistorius  =

ineligible for able-bodied competition in January despite originally  =

clearing him to compete last spring, pending further investigation.  =

Pistorius will be allowed to resume his efforts immediately.

That investigation came last November when the IAAF sponsored three  =

days of testing on Pistorius, who gave his consent, in Cologne,  =

Germany, under the supervision of Peter Br=FCggemann, a professor at  =

the German Sport University.

Br=FCggemann found that the prosthetics, known as Cheetahs, were more  =

efficient than a human ankle. He also found that they could return  =

energy in maximum speed sprinting and that Pistorius was able to keep  =

up with a few able-bodied sprinters while expending about 25 percent  =

less energy. Based on Br=FCggemann's report, the IAAF decided that  =

Pistorius would not be allowed to compete.

Pistorius's lawyers, however, argued that the results of the study  =

did not provide enough evidence to make a decision and lodged an  =

appeal in February.

Jeffrey Kessler, an attorney in the New York-based law firm Dewey &  =

Leboeuf, who agreed to take the case on a pro bono basis, led  =

Pistorius's defense. Calling on the testimony of two experts of  =

biomechanics, he attempted to prove that Br=FCggemann's tests only took  =

a very small portion of the prosthetics' total effect into account,  =

he said in a telephone interview last week.

"We won because Dr. Br=FCggemann was asked to do the wrong job,"  =

Kessler added in a telephone interview Friday morning. "He was never  =

asked to consider the issue of Oscar's overall net advantage or  =

disadvantage and they found that that was the required test."

Furthermore, Kessler explained that the Court found that Br=FCggemann's  =

scientific evidence did not show any advantage for Pistorius and that  =

"the IAAF had not at all follow proper procedures in conducting any  =

of its review. Many of its results were in many respects pre-ordained."

Pistorius, a South African, was born without the fibula in his lower  =

legs and with defects in his feet. His legs were amputated below the  =

knee when he was 11 months old. He has set Paralympic world records  =

in the 100, 200, and 400 meters.

"I am ecstatic," Pistorius told reporters in Milan, Italy, The  =

Associated Press reported. "When I found out, I cried. It is a battle  =

that has been going on for far too long. It's a great day for sport.  =

I think this day is going to go down in history for the equality of  =

disabled people."

Pistorius had flirted with able-bodied competition last spring  =

running in a 'B' race at the Golden Gala meet in Rome and then at a  =

Grand Prix meet in Sheffield, England. Even so, Pistorius had not met  =

the Olympics' automatic qualifying standard of 45.55 seconds in the  =

400 meters. But he likely will earn an invitation onto the South  =

African 4x400 meter relay team which would take a squad of six  =

sprinters to Beijing.

What the decision means for other disabled athletes hoping to compete  =

in the Olympics is that they will be allowed to compete with able- =

bodied athletes unless the IAAF can provide indubitable scientific  =

evidence to the contrary. In the past, IAAF spokesman Nick Davies has  =

insisted that these matters can only be treated on a case by case  =

basis with the burden of proof on the athletes to show that the  =

prosthetics do not provide an unfair advantage.

"Unless there is adequate evidence to support that determination,"  =

Kessler said. "Then the disabled should be allowed to compete."


Pistorius' victory is inspirational -- and controversial
	=

Story Highlights

     * A court overturned an earlier ruling barring the amputee  =

runner from Beijing
     * The South African-born sprinter runs on blades called "Cheetah  =

blades"
     * Other runners contend that the blades give him an unnatural  =

advantage



If Henke and Sheila Pistorius ever unleashed upon their son, Oscar,  =

the adage "you can grow up to be whatever you want," they might have  =

crossed their fingers behind their backs and categorically eliminated  =

certain professions.

Like, for example, "world class sprinter," given that Oscar was born  =

with no fibula -- the outer bone between the knee and ankle -- in  =

either of his legs, and had to have his legs amputated halfway  =

between the knee and ankle before he was a year old.

And, like the rest of us, Henke and Sheila would have overlooked the  =

spirit that has propelled Pistorius to the ranks of professional  =

quarter milers. While the propulsion of that spirit is no longer in  =

question -- not with Pistorius having run 46.56 in the quarter-mile,  =

making him one of South Africa's top long sprinters -- the propulsion  =

of the prosthetic legs Pistorius races on have been.

Pistorius, a.k.a. "the Blade Runner," races on crescent blades called  =

"Cheetah Flex-Feet." Despite the obvious difficulty of balancing on  =

the blades, as Pistorius continued to improve, some other sprinters  =

questioned whether he was not disabled, but rather "too-abled."

In 2007, with the blessing of the International Association of  =

Athletics Federation (IAAF), Pistorius competed in a Golden League  =

meet in Rome, his first international, able-bodied event. It was a  =

resounding triumph, as he finished second in his heat, besting seven  =

other pros. But the way Pistorius ran the race intensified the  =

questions -- he had already faced concerns from Paralympic  =

competitors that his blades exaggerated what his actual leg length  =

should be -- about the fairness of his prosthetics.

Pistorius, who is used to doing things that no man has done before,  =

ran that 400 in Rome in virtually unheard of fashion. He was in dead  =

last for most of the race, until about 70 meters to go, and seemed to  =

run the second half of the race as fast or even slightly faster than  =

the first half, gobbling up his competitors in the final strides. No  =

other professional quarter-miler runs that way: They all blow out of  =

the blocks and attempt to slow down as slowly as possible, but slow  =

down they do. Inevitably, the physics of cheetah legs became a hot  =

topic of discussion, particularly with Pistorius in line for a shot  =

at the 2008 Olympics.

His camp contended that Oscar runs the second half of races faster  =

because it takes him more time to get his blades up to speed, partly  =

because unlike other sprinters who push off with their upper and  =

lower legs and stay low coming out of the blocks, Pistorius  =

essentially has to stand straight up out of the blocks and start  =

generating power almost exclusively with his hips. Because his start  =

is slow, it takes him time to get into a rhythm, they said.

To put the speculation to rest, last November, IAAF assigned Peter  =

Br=FCggemann, a professor at the German Sport University, to examine  =

Pistorius' blades. Br=FCggemann concluded that the spring-like blades,  =

contrary to the contentions of some experts who study amputee  =

athletes, returned energy more efficiently to the legs than a normal  =

human ankle joint, allowing Oscar to coast at high speeds and expend  =

less energy than other sprinters.

On the strength of Br=FCggemann's findings, Pistorius was barred from  =

IAAF races, including the Olympics. But Pistorius appealed to the  =

Court of Arbitration for Sport, and his legal team presented evidence  =

from biomechanics experts suggesting that, had Br=FCggemann taken the  =

entirety of Pistorius' body mechanics into account, and not just his  =

substitute ankle joint, he would have found that Pistorius does not  =

compete at an advantage. The court was persuaded, and unexpectedly  =

reinstated Pistorius on Friday, after which IAAF president Lamine  =

Diack said he will welcome Pistorius back to competition.

With his Olympic dream revived, Pistorius told the Associated Press  =

after the ruling that he had "been struggling to hide my smile for  =

the last half an hour." Frankly, it's hard not to smile over  =

Pistorius. But that doesn't mean the questions will go away. Though  =

Pistorius will have to cut about a second from his time to qualify  =

individually for Beijing, he may well be picked for South Africa's  =

4x400-meter relay team, which, of course, means somebody who might  =

have otherwise been an Olympian will be displaced. Sibusiso Sishi, a  =

top South African quarter-miler, would almost certainly be picked for  =

the relay, but is one of the small number of men who, if Pistorius  =

lowers his time, would be looking over his shoulder.

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."

Perhaps, though, it simply isn't possible to quantify all the  =

advantages and disadvantages that Pistorius' blades confer relative  =

to his able-bodied counterparts. Tests have been done, and, depending  =

who you ask, it's still not entirely clear "where we stand," on  =

cheetah legs. What is clear is that Oscar Pistorius and his curved  =

carbon calves have won the right to stand on the track at Beijing's  =

National Stadium.

-- =

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