Oscar Pistorius

[McMouse]

He seems to be claiming that his blades provide no advantage when he competes against able bodied athletes, but longer blades worn by the guy who won gold gave him an unfair advantage. Sour grapes or what?

[EvianBaby]

I did think he picked the wrong moment to whinge like that but in a way I see his point.

The blades are meant to be made to match what the natural height of the athlete would be with legs but I believe there is some give or take in this so as someone like me who is naturally 5'2, I could have blades that made me 5'7 and give me a much longer stride, which does seem to be a little unfair.

I don't think if would go down well if one of the able bodied athletes found a way to make their legs several inches longer.

[Baldric]

His blades do appear to give him an advantage against able-bodied athletes, more 'spring' in his step, and I do think his comment was sour grapes.

[Sheenamf]

"advantage over able bodied athletes"
Apparently 97% of the energy feedback from the blades is transferred into the forward motion, whereas in able bodied athletes this figure is 250% - i.e. the energy is multiplied, rather than depleted. Read this in one of last week's papers

[Sheenamf]

They also have to be careful if a sprint race includes a tight bend as in 200m as the blades can snap and it also puts the hip joints under a stress similar to a G force

[commoner]

Why are blades allowed anyway?...it's bound to give them an advantage...the material can be different as well as the length...more springy.
They don't walk around in the daft lookingthings do they?
They should have to run in their ordinary every day legs like able bodied runners...
..and why have the Paralympic Committee put their head in the sand over it which seems the case....

[Ann]

Similar thread from last night
http://www.theanswerb.../Question1167140.html

[bibblebub]

The interesting statistic is that Pretorius actually had the longer stride length http://www.guardian.c...tride-length-oliveira so that length of the blades doesn't really come into it.

[bibblebub]

sorry, got my Pre mixed up with my Pis

[commoner]

lol..think they are all Pis-ing up all our backs,,heh heh!

[Ellipsis]

From http://www.bbc.co.uk/...bility-sport/19462059

Final: > The world record holder was overhauled by Oliveira in the final 20m. The Brazilian clocked 21.45 seconds, with Pistorius second in 21.52.

Heats: > Pistorius set a new world record of 21.30 seconds when qualifying for the final on Saturday, breaking the mark of 21.88 set by Oliveira in his own heat two races earlier.

So it's simple. Pistorius ran 0.22 seconds slower in the final than the heats. Oliveira ran 0.43 seconds quicker. If Pistorius had run as fast as he did in the heats, or even 0.14 seconds slower, he'd have won. He underperformed in the final, whereas Oliveira reached his peak. Oliveira deserves his victory.

As for "fair", it's incredibly difficult in the Paralympics to create an even playing field. The Paralympics, more so even than the Olympics, are where the true Olympic spirit should be celebrated: "The important thing is not to win, but to take part". Pistorius seems to have lost a bit of that spirit, which is a shame ...