He Shouldn't Be Allowed to Compete

Today I'm going to be a little controversial.  I'm going to talk about South African runner Oscar Pistorius, who recently qualified for next month's World Championships.  Look at the below picture of Pistorius and you'll notice something very obvious about him.

As you can see, Pistorius doesn't have lower legs.  They were both amputated below the knee when he was a baby.  He "runs" on carbon fiber blades, which have earned him the nickname "The Blade Runner."  He quickly became one of the best Paralympic sprinters in the world.  In 2007, he started competing against able-bodied athletes with the goal of competing at both the Olympics and Paralympics the following year.  This is what makes Pistorius such a notable, and polarizing, figure.

There has been some criticism/debate that Pistorius' blades give him an unfair advantage over able-bodied runners (more on that later).  Without getting into all the technical mumbo-jumbo, the IAAF, track & field's international governing body, ran tests and determined that they DID give him a slight advantage.  Pistorius appealed the ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and the decision was reversed in May 2008, clearing him to attempt to qualify for the Beijing Olympics in the 400 meters.  However, despite numerous attempts, he failed to reach the Olympic standard of 45.55 seconds.  A month later he went to Beijing for the Paralympics and won three gold medals.

Fast forward three years.  Pistorius still has the dream of competing in both the Olympics and Paralympics in 2012.  He's a "story"/gate attraction, so he has continually been invited to run the 400 in most of the major professional meets.  However, Pistorius, frankly, isn't as good as the top world-class able-bodied 400 meter runners.  He'd run these meets (normally from lane 1, the worst lane draw possible) and consistently finish in the back of the field (I saw him finish seventh at the New York Diamond League meet in June).  In addition, he consistently was coming up short of the London Olympic standard, 45.25.

That qualifying standard is the same for this year's World Championships, which will be held in Daegu, South Korea at the end of August.  In order to compete in Daegu, athletes have to run that time by August 1 (the Olympic qualifying period started on May 1, so it automatically qualifies you for both if you achieve it in that time).  After consistently coming up short, Pistorius had one last chance at a meet in Lignano, Italy.  In my opinion, the quality of this meet was highly questionable.  It seemed like the whole purpose of this race was to get Pistorius an "A" standard.  Anyway, after never having run faster than 45.61 (which is better than be "B" qualifier of 45.70, by the way), Pistorius won the race in a personal-best time of 45.07 seconds to qualify for both Worlds and the Olympics.  To me, this time seems like an abberation, but that's not why I don't think he should be competing at the able-bodied World Championships/Olympics.

I'm in the minority, but I agree with the original findings.  I think the carbon-fiber blades DO give Pistorius an advantage.  To be clear, I'm not some massive insensitive jerk.  I don't think that not having the bottom half of your legs is an advantage.  However, the technology Pistorius uses to compete gives him a benefit that those he races against cannot utilize.

I know nothing of the technical studies that were done, nor do I really want to.  Rather, I'm speaking from the experience of somebody who used to sprint competitively (not very well, but still).  The 400 is one of the hardest events in track.  You're going all-out for a full lap.  It's a grind to finish.  Over the final 50 meters of the race, your legs are burning.  More specifically, your lower legs are burning.  Pistorius doesn't have lower legs.  Thus, it's impossible for him to have those muscles tighten up.  Likewise, he'll never develop shin splints.  Or have foot or ankle problems.  All of that stuff comes with the territory for able-bodied runners.  (Think about it, your feet are the only things that make direct contact with the track, and the muscles in the lower leg repeatedly absorb those blows.)  But not Pistorius.  And that's where he has an advantage.

The Pistorius story was a great human interest story.  Four years ago when he was trying to qualify for the Beijing Games.  But it's soooooooooooooo played out by now that, frankly, I'm sick of it.  That's beside the point, though.  I don't think he should be allowed to run at Worlds.  I told you why.  But there are also competitive reasons that have nothing to do with whether or not his prosthetics give him advantage.  I think his time in Italy was a fluke.  I wouldn't be surprised if he's eliminated in the first round in Daegu.  He's certainly not going to win a medal.  It'll be the same story in London.

Go ahead and criticize me for not being P.C. or tell me how "wrong" you think I am.  It doesn't change my opinion of Oscar Pistorius.  Qualified or not, he shouldn't run at Worlds.  Sorry.  Feel free to disagree.