Olympic GDT - 4 August

[Canada 02]

cool, double amputee from S. Africa running in 400m

[FLAMESRULE]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

cool, double amputee from S. Africa running in 400m

And he finished second in his heat, IIRC. Not cool, he should be in the Paraolympics. Whether or not those legs give him an advantage or not its not fair. You know everyone competing against him thinks they do.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by FLAMESRULE

And he finished second in his heat, IIRC. Not cool, he should be in the Paraolympics. Whether or not those legs give him an advantage or not its not fair. You know everyone competing against him thinks they do.

Im confused....some think NOT having legs is an advantage in running?

[FLAMESRULE]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Im confused....some think NOT having legs is an advantage in running?

Of course it could be an advantage! Add a little more flex/spring in the composite prosthetic and it lets you run faster. There is simply no way he should be competing and maintain an even playing field.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Im confused....some think NOT having legs is an advantage in running?

You think being a cyborg is a disadvantage?

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by FLAMESRULE

Of course it could be an advantage! Add a little more flex/spring in the composite prosthetic and it lets you run faster. There is simply no way he should be competing and maintain an even playing field.

They've gone through appeals and court cases and medical evidence for years and proven that there is no advantage.

Also he's basically on stilts. If there's wind or rain he will be severely hampered.

[Bertuzzied]

This indoor cycling is pretty boring and long! time for another sport.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by FLAMESRULE

Of course it could be an advantage! Add a little more flex/spring in the composite prosthetic and it lets you run faster. There is simply no way he should be competing and maintain an even playing field.

His "legs" are almost 20 years old...no he does not have an advantage and its absurd to argue otherwise.

Put it this way, if prosthetics were any sort of an advantage, why arent all the other double amputees running anywhere close to his (and those with abled bodies) times?

[FLAMESRULE]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

They've gone through appeals and court cases and medical evidence for years and proven that there is no advantage.

Also he's basically on stilts. If there's wind or rain he will be severely hampered.

Its simply a matter of time for someone to win a medal on prosthetics. Look at the advantages the LZR swimming suits gave the swimmers in the Beijing Olympics, there is a reason their banned. It will happen with prosthetics. Not to mention amputees have their own ParaOlympics where I'd imagine the use of prosthetics are much more regulated.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by FLAMESRULE

Its simply a matter of time for someone to win a medal on prosthetics. Look at the advantages the LZR swimming suits gave the swimmers in the Beijing Olympics, there is a reason their banned. It will happen with prosthetics. Not to mention amputees have their own ParaOlympics where I'd imagine the use of prosthetics are much more regulated.

Except all the athletes were able to take advantage of that....so no comparison.

And again, if prosthetics are an advantage we would see all double amputees posting times similar to oscar...but we dont.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

They've gone through appeals and court cases and medical evidence for years and proven that there is no advantage.

Also he's basically on stilts. If there's wind or rain he will be severely hampered.

That's not what the court found. They found he had an advantage at speed in a straight line, but had a disadvange starting and accelerating. Perhaps that equates to no net advantage as the court decided, but it also stands to reason that if he has and advantage at full speed, that given an event of sufficient length he would have a net advantage.

[FLAMESRULE]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Except all the athletes were able to take advantage of that....so no comparison.

And again, if prosthetics are an advantage we would see all double amputees posting times similar to oscar...but we dont.

Not everyone wore those suits. But everyone that broke a WR did.

And you dont think current Paralympic athletes would take advantage of advances in composite materials if they thought it would give them a chance to win an Olympic medal?? Of course people would. Its no different that using advances in composites for bikes, boats, etc.

Should he win a medal, does he get an asterisk beside his name saying that he had prosthetics?? I think he would and that brings into question the integrity of the Olympics. Its a nice, feel warm story, but I dont think he should be competing.

Its a very slippery slope.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by transplant99

And again, if prosthetics are an advantage we would see all double amputees posting times similar to oscar...but we dont.

There's a lot fewer double amputees than able-bodied athletes, so you'd expect less world-class athletes in the amputee population and less conformance to the standard bell curve.

[Nammer403]

Let's go its gonna be close with the pursuit!

[Nammer403]

Good job ladies!!!!!

[Drake]

Bronze in women's team pursuit!!!!!

[TurnedTheCorner]

Originally Posted by FLAMESRULE

Women pursuit race for bronze now...c'mon ladies!!

Bronze!!

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Turning out to be a pretty good day so far.

[Nammer403]

Props to the Great Britain ladies with a world record

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Britain absolutely lays the boots to the U.S. in the gold medal round of women's team pursuit. That was not even remotely close.