Disabled Runner’s Desire to Compete in Olympics Sparks Debate
May 21st, 2007 • Posted in: NewsMANCHESTER, England
A man who wants to be the first amputee runner to compete in the Olympics is at the center of an ethical controversy over whether his prosthetics actually give him an unfair advantage, according to a report from the New York Times.
Oscar Pistorius had both legs amputated below the knee when he was an infant, a result of a disabling deformity. He runs with the assistance of two J-shaped blades made of carbon fiber, and already has won races against non-amputee runners in an international competition.
At issue, reports Times writer Jeré Longman, is whether Pistorius’s high-tech prosthetics are an “equalizer or an edge.”
Longman writes that Pistorius is “a searing talent who has begun erasing the lines between abled and disabled, raising philosophical questions: What should an athlete look like? Where should limits be placed on technology to balance fair play with the right to compete? Would the nature of sport be altered if athletes using artificial limbs could run faster or jump higher than the best athletes using their natural limbs?”
Current regulations by track’s governing body, known by the initials IAFF and based in Monaco, prohibit technological aids such as springs and wheels. Elio Locatelli of Italy, an official of the agency, told the Times that external devices affect the purity of the sport and “next will be another device where people can fly with something on their back.”
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