• Anche da come un uomo dice “grazie” si capisce il suo ruolo nel branco.
• La schizofrenia del buddista: due punti di vista morali che guardano le stesse cose.
• In Texas dal 2005 è proibita dalla legge qualsiasi cosa “identica al matrimonio” (compreso il matrimonio, of course!)
• Il libero arbitrio è compatibile con la determinazione assoluta.
• Pistorius è avvantaggiato dalle sue lame. Ma anche no.

South African Paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius taking part in the Landsmót ungmennafélags Íslands, the largest sporting event in Iceland.

Sports engineers never seem to be that far away from a controversy. Just as one ‘issue’ is put to rest, you can be sure that a new hot potato is on the horizon. I’d argue that this is no bad thing; it is just a symptom of people’s natural resistance to change, and as long as sport continues to evolve, it’s probably in good health. Of far greater concern is the issue of stagnation, when nothing new is happening and your sport slowly but surely fades away into obscurity. The list of sports that were once in the Olympics but now only reside in amusing archive footage is surprisingly large. I am sure that in its day, underwater swimming was a highly competitive and exciting event, but can you really see it making a comeback anytime soon?

Perhaps the hottest of all sporting potatoes at the moment concerns the tricky case of athletes with a below the knee amputation and their use of Cheetah running blades. The name is quite unfortunate here as over the past year or so, the prosthetic has been unfairly linked to that most unsporting of notions, cheating. As controversies go, they don’t get much bigger than this. Prosthetics have the potential to challenge the accepted norms in sport, and this makes people feel anxious. It is therefore perhaps a little surprising that given my pre-amble and belief that change is generally a good thing, I too have my concerns about the future use of this particular piece of technology.

I have been fascinated by the use of running specific prosthetics ever since seeing Oscar Pistorius run on a rain drenched track in Sheffield in 2007. Even though this particular race was a bit of a disaster for Pistorius, he showed the world that disabled and non-disabled athletes are able to run together in the same race. A year later, I was very fortunate enough to be able to spend a week at the Paralympics in Beijing. There is something very remarkable about seeing a disabled athlete compete at the highest levels, and the majority view is that governing bodies should not create any barriers to stop disabled athletes competing against non-disabled athletes if they so desire. The exploits of these stellar individuals embodies the very best virtues of sport, and to suggest that there could be a problem seems unsporting to say the least. However, our desire to see disabled and non-disabled athletes competing together is primarily an emotive response, and when one digs a little deeper the issue becomes far less clear.

Last week, researchers from MIT published findings from their study on the use of running specific prostheses (Cheetah et al). As was reported in the Guardian and commented on by our very own Dr Simon Choppin, http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/nov/04/prosthetics-athletes-oscar-pistorius, this study adds further support to the view that the current use of prosthetics does not give disabled athletes an unfair advantage and that they should therefore be able to compete against their non-disabled counterparts. There have been two other studies that have considered this same question, and broadly speaking, the score now sits at two nil in favour of athletes like Pistorius. What are we all so worried about then?

At the moment the technology that disabled athletes use is unable to match the performance of conventional bones and muscle. Disabled athletes are not yet enhanced, but there is no reason why prosthetic technology should stop where it is. Powered ankle joints have already been prototyped and it is only a matter of time before far more capable prosthetics are used in sport. I think that this is an incredibly exciting time for disability sport. If we allow technological development to continue we will soon see disabled athletes out performing able-bodied athletes and the whole notion of disability will be challenged.

Strange as it may seem, perhaps the greatest threat to this enhanced future is the integration of disability sport with non-disability sport. Sports’ governing bodies will only ever allow disabled athletes to complete alongside non-disabled athletes if their abilities are limited to what is deemed to be ‘normal’. It is inevitable that new rules and regulations will be introduced to limit the abilities of prosthetics at the point where the playing field has been levelled, and this will curb the huge potential of these devices. If prosthetics are allowed to develop within the context of disability sport there is no reason why their potential should be limited. Genuine enhancements could be made and aside from challenging perceptions of disability, this sporting future would create new technologies of huge benefit to the wider population. It would be profoundly wrong to not allow this development to take place, and although it goes against our instincts, keeping the disabled and the non-disabled apart in competition may be the best way to realise this future.

Voici un lien vers mon Tpe de première.

By Manu González – Extracto de la entrevista en Público (03-06-2009)

Oscar Pistorius (Suráfrica, 1986) vivió en Barcelona el triunfo del Barça en Roma. Y habla de la Copa de Europa, del partido y de la fiesta con una amplia sonrisa. Es la que luce habitualmente. Pero la pierde cuando se le pregunta por el litigio que mantuvo por poder competir con los atletas no discapacitados. Está harto de que se lo recuerden. Lo ganó y lo considera pasado.

Fuente: www.publico.es

Pregunta: - Es el mejor atleta discapacitado del mundo. ¿Le molesta esto?

Respuesta.- No me importa para nada. He aprendido más de mis experiencias en los Juegos Paralímpicos que en cualquier otra competición. Es un honor participar y contribuir a que tengan más reconocimiento.

Pregunta.- ¿Se siente discapacitado?

Respuesta.- Tengo una discapacidad, pero creo que tengo más capacidades que discapacidades en mi vida y me gusta concentrarme en ellas. Lo que me importa es disfrutar de la vida y lograr mis sueños, y en eso me siento tan capacitado como cualquier otra persona.

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Oscar Pistorius is well on his way to becoming an international superstar! – He is an inspirational athlete from South Africa, who works twice as hard to defeat the lactic acid that builds up in his body as he runs against bodied competitors. He somehow manages to do whilst struggling to keep good balance on his blades, which have has no muscle in it to support him. He therefore has to generate all power from himself. He is someone who shows pure determination and skill, and we think he’s the one to watch out for during the 2012 Olympics in London. We definitely feel he has a great chance of picking up a medal and wish him the best of luck!

Peep a more in depth interview after the jump below

photo by: adysyady (via flickr)

I’m delighted by an invitation to the launch of Oscar Pistorius’ book, “Blade Runner”.

What a phenomenal man, to overcome such extraordinary challenges and emerge as one of the most inspirational people in South Africa, if not on the planet. At eleven months old, both his legs were amputated below the knee. He now holds two Paralympic world records for the 100m and 200m events, running with the aid of Cheetah Flex-Foot artificial limbs.

Known as “Blade Runner” or “the fastest man on no legs”, Oscar has set his sights on competing at the 2012 Olympics. All strength to him and sincere thanks for his incredible example.

Eu lhes dou: o uber mensch. Cabeça e conteúdo. Mente neurótica em corpo “nervoso” (tipo a gíria, sacou? Foi uma piada).

Você já imaginou como será o homem do FUTURO (FUTURO se escreve com letra maiúscula, sabia? Faz parte da nova lei gramatical, pode conferir.)?

Será ele mais pra Bill Gates ou Sawyer do Lost? Será ele mais pra Rick Moranis ou Hugh Jackman? Será ele magro, cibernético e cheio de acnes horrorosas, purulentas, uma em cima da outra? Será ele forte, atlético e um pão, um verdadeiro achado, com músculos capazes de derrotar seus oponentes e olhos capazes de derreter seu coração?

Será ele OS DOIS?!

PAM-PAM-PAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!

Uau, esse post foi mais maricas e hormonal que um episódio de Gray’s Anatomy enrolado numa revista Capricho, com trilha sonora dos Jonas Brothers e que já leu todos os livros da série Crepúsculo.

When Oscar Pistorius‘ lower legs were amputated at age 1, few would have banked on this South African challenging world-class sprinters. At 20, when he began to close in on Olympic-qualifying time for 400m, experts posited that his times were so good, he must have been getting an unfair advantage from his bladelike prosthetics. When he set his sights on the Olympic Games in Beijing, the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) ruled he couldn’t compete against able-bodied athletes.

Living with prosthetic legs was seen as a huge impediment, but he has turned this prescription upside down. His disadvantage has become the advantage. It’s too easy to credit Pistrius’ success to technology. Through birth or circumstances, some are given certain gifts, but it’s what one does with those gifts, the hours devoted to training, the desire to be the best, that is at the true heart of a champion.

(Adapted from TIME magazine, written by Erik Weihenmayer – the only blind person to conquer Mount Everest)

Sources: http://sports.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090222.wsptpist22/GSStory/GlobeSportsOther/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20090222.wsptpist22;  http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/feb/22/oscar-pistorius-recovers-from-boating-accident; http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=nw20090222192917395C428933  

Double-amputee “blade runner”, Oscar Pistorius, was involved in an accident last month when he was flung from a speedboat on the Vaal River. Apparently, he was steering the boat when it hit an unidentified object. Pistorius suffered head and facial injuries and needed to be airlifted to Johannesburg hospital. Doctors at the hospital expect him to make a full recovery, and he was discharged a week later.

IOL news however report that Vanderbijlpark police are now investigating a case of reckless and negligent driving against Pistorius as a result of the accident.

Ninja thinks the ability of the body to adapt is marvellous. She shares highlights from New Scientist’s January 07 2009 article about the technology being developed to provide better prosthetics. The human body proves even more interesting as we listen to one blind man’s ability to navigate himself and many others out of the World Trade Centre on 9/11.

Ninja knew there was reason she didn’t want to see He’s Just Not That Into You. Is it just because she isn’t a fan of chick flicks? No. Seems that homo stereotypes are still alive and well in the movie industry. She shares highlights from a review she found at queerty.com.

Famous cheetahs mentioned: Oscar Pistorius. Famous Centre Square mentioned: Paul Lynde.

• Hot Fossils and Rebel Matters 164 – Sense, Prosthetics, and Gay Sensibility 24.6 MB

“Men build too many walls and not enough bridges.”

~  Isaac Newton

The Mind/Brain Conundrum

This is a tad bit tangential to the Paleo/Hunter-Gatherer/Evolutionary Fitness theme of this blog, however, it is rather interesting to me, and so I thought I’d make mention of it here on TTP.  If nothing else, it is thought provoking, and, in a way, this manner of pro-and-con evolutionary argument is of the same genre as what is sometimes bandied-about in the context of genome evolution, and, especially, “rapid” evolution.

The “mind-brain conundrum”, or “consciousness conundrum” debate has become the new battlefield of the intelligentsia, or more enlightened individuals embroiled in the evolutionary/creationist (or, Intelligent Design, if you’d rather) debate.  Check out this NPR segment which aired recently, for a good feel for what the debate is all about.  Also, some thought-provoking, intelligent discussion and debate (not the usual, mind-numbing drivel from the ID crowd) on this subject can be found on the following blogs:

Evolution News and Views, takes the side of Intelligent Design, while in the other corner, NeuroLogica argues the Darwinian/Evolutionary side of the debate.

Tiny Toes Equate to Spectacular Sprints?

Thanks to Raymond Ho, of the Prancing Papio for sniffing this one out.  I don’t have much to add to this Wired write-up on the subject, other than to say that I am a bit skeptical of the repeated references to endurance running.  I guess more clarification of the term “endurance” is in order before this aspect of the article can be adequately debated.  Where one man pictures “endurance” hunting, though, I picture a coordinated, team-effort, and a series of intermittent sprints from the participants.  I would imagine that our early ancestors preferred to hunt larger (more caloric bang for the overall energy expenditure of the hunt) and relatively slower game.  In my mind, that was the more likely hunting strategy.  Why waste unnecessary energy engaged in long, drawn-out chases of smaller, leaner, more fleet-a-foot (or hoof) animals?  Anyway, a link to the Journal of Experimental Biology, and the abstract for the above-cited study, can be found here.

Ancillary to this, notice the design of Oscar Pistorius’s prosthetics (and especially the small “foot” pad).  Lots of capacity for spring (power storage), and a small overall surface area onto which that spring power is ultimately deployed.  Interesting, indeed.

In Health,

Keith

http://www.sportinglife.com/others/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=others/09/01/15/ATHLETICS_Pistorius_Nightlead.html

Para quem n viu bem!

Oscar Pistorius é um atleta paraolímpico conhecido como “Blade Runner”  por não ter as 2 pernas e usar próteses finas feitas de fibra de carbono. A sua participação nos Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2008 foi rejeitada pelo Comité Olímpico Internacional por se considerar que as suas próteses lhe conferiam vantagem sobre os demais atletas. O atleta recorreu da decisão, e em Maio de 2008 o Tribunal de Arbitragem Desportiva (TAD) autorizou-o a competir nos Jogos Olímpicos de Pequim.

F. Wikipédia

          Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius was born on the 22 of November in 1986 and is a south  African Paralympic runner. Known as the “Blade Runner” and “the fastest man on no legs”, Pistorius is the double amputee world record holder in the 100, 200 and 400 meters events and runs with the aid of Cheetah Flex-Foot carbon fibre transtibial artificial limbs by Ossur. In 2007 Pistorius took part in his first international able-bodied competitions. However, his artificial lower legs, while enabling him to compete, generated claims that he has an unfair advantage over able-bodied runners. The same year, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) amended its competition rules to ban the use of “any technical device that incorporates springs, wheels or any other element that provides a user with an advantage over another athlete not using such a device”. It claimed that the amendment was not specifically aimed at Pistorius. After monitoring his track performances and carrying out tests, scientists took the view that Pistorius enjoyed considerable advantages over athletes without prosthetic limbs. On the strength of these findings, on January 14 2008 the IAAF ruled him ineligible for competitions conducted under its rules, including the 2008 Summer Olympics. This decision was reversed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on May 16 2008, the Court ruling that the IAAF had not provided sufficient evidence to prove that Pistorius’s prostheses give him an advantage over able-bodied athletes.

Although eligible to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, Pistorius did not qualify for the South African team. Despite achieving third place and a personal best time of 46.25 seconds in the 400 metres in Lucerne, Switzerland, on July 16 2008, this was short of the Olympic qualification time of 45.55 seconds. He was also not selected by the South African Olympic Committee for the 4 x 400 metres relay team as there were four other runners who had achieved better times. At the 2008 Summer Paralympics, he took the gold medals in the 100, 200 and 400 metres sprints.

          Oscar Pistorius has an incredible story which is why he comes in on my list at number eight. Although he did not fulfill his long term goal of winning a gold medal in the 2008 beijing olympics, he did win a gold in numerous events in the 2008 paralympics. This take incredible courage, self-confidence, and perserverence to be banned from running in events and not to give up, instead he argued these desisions, won his court case and pursued his passion to the fulest extent.

If you have been reading my other blogs, you would have noticed that I was a tad addicted to the Olympics this year. Then again, I have been addicted to the games for ages with the first one that I remember being Barcelona 1992. Those were truly mesmerising especially since I had a little hobby back then which centred on the flags of countries. I knew basically every country’s flag. No really, just show me a flag and I knew which country it was. The opening ceremony in Barcelona was just awesome – I sat with my box of crayons and drew every country’s flag as they came in. I remember the South African Olympic flag then – with the silver background with the multicoloured stripes and the Olympic rings. I was quite chuffed about that seeing that I could use my Silver Crayola! That was so cool. I can actually picture the team walking into the stadium but for the life of me, I can’t remember who the flag bearer was!

Atlanta 1996 was one of South Africa’s most emotional games with Josiah Thugwane winning the marathon. That was an experience hey! Anyway, we were on holiday somewhere when the ceremony was one, I think it was Sun City though, and I basically missed the ceremony because my parents made me sleep! GAH! But Sydney 2000, that’s when I was an addict of note! The internet, by that time, was pretty mature (even though nobody could have predicted the coming of Web 2.0) and the Olympics website was one of the best websites of that era. In retrospect, it kicked the ass of the Athens and Beijing site! One of the sports that actually hooked me during the games was Gymnastics and the rivalry between the Russians and Romanians. I remember the organisers had set the vault 5cm too low and it caused chaos before one of the Australians realised this and they reset it! Then there was Svetlana Korkhina, probably the tallest gymnast ever, falling on the uneven bars which was HER event. Finally, the Women’s Individual All-Around Finals. One Andreea Raducan, a 16 year old Romanian gymnast put on one of the most amazing performances in every event. Moreover, the Romanians had taken the other two podium positions with Khorkina being relegated to one of the minor spots even though she was one of the favourites. Within a few days, chaos broke out when it was revealed that she had doped! BUT, to add to the scandal, the doping agent was a drug called Nurofen. And yes, that is the over-the-counter painkiller that you can buy at any Pharmacy, actually, I think you can buy it at Checkers! The night before the event, she needed some painkillers so the team doctor obligingly handed her a Nurofen which, at the time, contained a banned substance. As a 16-year old, I am guessing you would trust your doctor to be knowledgeable about the ingredients of the drugs that he administers. Well, in this case, apparently he wasn’t and that cost her Gold. The case was a bit different from the usual drug cases as, basically, all the women gymnasts rallied behind her. Except for losing the Gold, she wasn’t reprimanded (the doctor was though) and the entire gymnastics community rallied behind her. It was quite weird seeing that most drug cases end up with the athlete being ostracised. Anyway, this year’s gymnastics were a bit different.

I guess that the hype before the tournament wasn’t that huge centred on single athletes. But yikes, that Chinese team! Apart from being below the age of 10, they were amazing. Their moves were just perfect and they really did deserve the team Gold that they did take. The whole age scandal though, or as some have put it, Age-Doping, was so blatant. Just looking at the rest of the athletes in other events made you scratch your head and wonder if these girls are really 16! Even that 14 year old British diver looked much older than these girls. I wonder if humans are like trees and grow an extra ring for every year that they are alive – it would put a whole new dimension to the whole age testing thing. The one quirk about the gymnastics was the athlete from USA named Shawn Johnson. She was pretty hot but her name was Shawn! It’s like that song by Desmond & The Tutus “Peter” about a girl named Peter and how the singer really has some issues falling in love with her because of her Boys name! Anyway, this time around, I think the guys actually outdid the women’s teams when it came to actual excitement. But um, women’s gymnastics is so much better to watch!

The highlight of the Games, professionally, was one Michael Phelps, an American who was born to a family of Mermaids of the coast of Maine who actually gave him away to a human family because of the strife and border wars between the Mermaids of Maine and whatever state lies next to it. Apparently, the family’s home was Water-Hammered and they figured Michael would do better on land. Well, the Americans didn’t complain seeing that he went about and got EIGHT Gold medals. Yes, EIGHT which is exactly EIGHT more than South Africa won. The guy is just amazing as an athlete and watching him swim with such poise and ease boggles the mind. I’m trying to imagine being in the Water Cube and seeing him in action. Watching this on TV does not give any indication of speed – try swimming a lap and see how long it takes! I did feel sorry for the, I think, Belgian, who came out second in most of Phelps’ events. This is where the beauty of the Olympics is seen – the triumph of human endeavour is showcased and these sculpted versions of the human race do things unimaginable to all those watching. It’s the thrill of competition at its highest level – athletes train their whole lives for this moment and at that moment, they achieve things that nobody thought possible. One Jamaican aptly named Usain Bolt showcased this on a much larger scale at the premier event of the Games – the men’s 100m sprint. His time, 9.69s (I think!) was just mind-boggling. Nobody could fathom a time that fast only five years ago. Then he went and won another two events with more World Records. It was quite surprising that the Jamaican sprint team had a brilliant Olympic Games in the male and female disciplines. Pity that the Games had Phelps otherwise Usain would be like God!

The South African issue was something that was so well publicised during the games. Whereas in the past Olympics, we had progressively got more medals, all that came back to South Africa this time was Mr. Mokoena’s solitary Silver from the Long Jump event. This, he lost by just a few centimetres to a dude from Panama. I think they practice by jumping over the canal so I don’t think it was such a bad thing to lose to him. Anyway, there was all the stories of bad funding and non-focus, especially with the swimming team who did us so proud last time but this time, well, yeah, you could be forgiven if you thought we actually didn’t compete in the swimming events! But, my view is that the world is getting way, way too good and although SA is also progressively getting better, it’s just not enough to win medals. I remember watching the heats of the swimming one morning. There were, I think, ten or so heats for the event with the first seven being unseeded heats with competitors from every country you can imagine. These were basically swimmers chosen as the best their country had to offer even though their times were no where close to world class. However, the South Africans ONLY swam in the seeded heats with the best that the rest of the world had to offer. Not a single person qualified for the finals (or was it semi-finals) from the unseeded heats mind you. What does this show? Basically, we aren’t just putting anyone into these events – the South Africans who did qualify have proved themselves and are worthy of being there! The famous swimming relay team that won Gold in Athens last time around were placed seventh in the finals. BUT, the time they swam was a few seconds faster than the time that they swam four years ago. The problem was that the American team (with Phelps) were a few seconds faster than them! The same story with other events where the local athletes did the best time that they’ve ever done but still weren’t placed anywhere. They swallowed the essence of the Olympic spirit and broke every personal boundary that they had within them. What more can you ask of the athletes?

But, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t have won medals. There is obviously so much more that is needed to be done before London in 2012. The problem is that the culture of sport is really dying in South Africa. There was no real business sponsor for the team this time around and the kit was supplied by the specialist sports brand, Mizuno. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Olympic committee had to purchase the kit! Money is going into the other three big sports (well, um, two because Soccer doesn’t count as a National Sport anymore!) and nothing is going into Olympics sports. This is while there are countless companies turning over such huge profits that you would get dizzy just by looking at the amount of appended zeros! Then again, companies want to be identified with something special and, well, our Olympic superstar, Oscar Pistorius, didn’t even qualify for the Games! So putting money into the Games did not make business sense for the companies. But, this doesn’t mean they should sit back and do nothing until 2011 and then take a look around and hope that there is an athlete – I think that there really needs to be money pumped into sports to basically make sure our athletes do make a mark in 2012. And they have a wealth of talent to choose from. Our young Fencing team is a perfect place to start – they didn’t perform but, well, the experiences were amazing and, with enough resources, imagine what could happen at the next Games. Also, the dudes that participated in the Mountain Biking and BMX racing are brilliant stars of the future. Nhlapo, the BMXer, became South Africa’s darling and he was just plain unlucky with the crash he had on the last corner. Less publicised was our Mountain Biker (and I forgot his name…) who is only 20 and finished in the Top 20 in the event. Even the commentators said that by 2012, he is probably going to be the one to watch.

One thing that was commented on was the British Cycling Teams whole training schedule. The Brits basically cleaned out the track cycling medals with wins in almost every event. This was due to a training schedule that was centred on only winning. No politics or worries about anything else – the programme was developed around ten years ago to make sure that come Beijing, the most well prepared side would be fielded and win everything. And this they achieved. As I said earlier, I think our approach in South Africa should be similar – pick a sport and aim for glory in 2016. The one problem is that South Africa has this culture of holding onto elements in teams that have historical significance yet aren’t at the top of their game. This is evident in Rugby, Soccer and Cricket as well as our Swimming relay team fielded in the Games. The Brits cycling plan was to tell the athletes that if they want to be in the team, they would need to prove it and if this approach can be taken, well, maybe we could win something. So I guess, we should look forward to a clean sweep of the Fencing medals in 2016! But hey, until the bureaucracy that controls sport now sorts itself out, medals are just a pipe dream.

The one thing I wanted to address was the whole politicisation of the Games due to it being held in China. Yes, China is terrible with human rights and what they do to personal freedoms and Tibet, well; there are millions of publications out there documenting this. For me, I did understand this but there was always this BUT in the back of my head which made me believe in the Olympic spirit. Back in Ancient Greece, wars were suspended for the duration of the Olympics due to it being so sacred. As I said before, it is a pure expression of human excellence. This Olympics did have a lot of politics attached to it especially with China, who eventually did “win” the Games with the highest medal count. Huge sums of money were obviously pumped into the training of athletes to make sure they perform – it DID happen. But (yes, but!) even though China do have that atrocious record and the numerous conflicts around the globe at that point including Russia’s invasion of Georgia, USA with their War on Terror and even the siege of Zimbabwe by our best friend Bob, the Olympics shone past that and showed that human’s can display excellence by not showing us how big guns they have, but by competing and achieving personal glory because of years and years of personal struggle to become the best. Maybe that’s clear enough – I know there will be many that don’t see the point here! Oh well!

Anyway, enough about the politics: the Games personal highlights for me were numerous! Actually, I probably can’t remember all (thank you oh wonderful brain that never remembers anything!) but I’ll just jot down some of them here. The Opening Ceremony obviously was a high point – it was a spectacle of military precision. The fireworks producing more greenhouse gases than several countries do in an entire year. The colours and the amazing floating rings – wow! And finally, the lighting of the torch, done by raising the athlete to roof level and then having him “jog” around the roof of the Bird’s Nest stadium until he got to the torch which had just appeared out of nowhere – that was just spectacular. Then again, I think after Barcelona where the Archer shot the arrow into the vessel, every host city needs to do something of exception. The Closing Ceremony was not as grandiose but it was still amazing. I loved the skit put on by London though – it was nowhere close to Chinese perfectionism but it still mesmerised. Anyway, sporting wise – wow, there’s SO many! The Spanish Gold in the Cycling Road Race and the surprise win by the Argentineans in the Men’s Madison. That was one of the coolest races to watch with Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish riding for Great Britain. How they did not win is something that boggles the mind! One of the sports you’d not expect for upsets was the White Water Rafting where that dude from Togo eventually came out third. At one stage, he could have won the race! It was Togo’s first medal ever! The huge upsets in Boxing were surprising with Cuba not pocketing a single Gold! Another headline was what happened to one of the American’s that competed in the Shooting event. Four years ago, he lost the title on the last shot because he missed the target completely. When you are at this level of competition, this simply does not happen and it never happens twice. Or does it? Well, um, he lost the title YET AGAIN, on the last shot with the same thing happening! Talk about bad luck!

Anyway, those were just a few highlights of mine. The rest is documented in Gold! I love the Olympics and well, it’s a four year wait till the next one. Hopefully, I’ll be there!

 ‘Born to Run’ – Oscar Pistorius

(The Good Weekend is a magazine of features published with the weekend editions of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers in Sydney and Melbourne.)\

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By Myles Edwards                   

The IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) claims to encourage fair play and equality.  Therefore, it is somewhat strange that it has given one verdict to two contrasting individuals, both striving for athletic glory and both going ‘the extra mile’ in very different ways.  Two cases which, according to the IAAF, have a supposedly similar issue at their core – performance enhancement.

Oscar Pistorius and Dwain Chambers are both banned, by the IAAF, from able-bodied Olympic competition.

Oscar Pistorius is the double amputee world record holder for the 100, 200 and 400 meters.  Aged 11 months, Oscar’s legs were amputated halfway between his knees and ankles.  He now runs with carbon fibre, artificial limbs.  It is these limbs which have caused controversy in the world of athletics as a result of the IAAF’s claim that they give Oscar ‘unfair advantage’ over able-bodied athletes.

Dwain Chambers burst onto the athletics scene with immense promise in 1995.  Following a successful 3 year spell as a junior, Chambers failed to fulfill his early promise and in August, 2003 he tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid, Tetrahydrogestrinone.  Chambers was stripped of medals and prize money backdating to 2002.  As a result of Chambers’ offence, Christian Malcolm, Marlon Devonish and Darren Campbell were stripped of their gold 4×100m relay medals from the 2002 European Championships.  Since then Chambers has won silver in the World indoor 100 metres, failed to make it at as an American footballer and is now playing for Castleford Tigers in rugby league.

While the stories of Pistorius and Chambers differ in many ways, there is a parallel issue at the heart of both.  The matter of honesty is where these two stories collide, with such disparity.  Oscar Pistorius has aided the IAAF with their inquiries at every opportunity.  Oscar Pistorius is hiding nothing, he is not cheating and his honesty affects no one adversely.   Chambers was caught cheating and therefore admitted his wrongdoings.  His conduct and so-called honesty not only puts the integrity of the sport into jeopardy but resulted in three worthy athletes being stripped of their World silver medals.

On one occasion when Oscar was a child, two older boys pushed him back and forth until he fell over.  In true Oscar-fashion, he bought a punch bag.  Not long after, the same two boys targeted Oscar again, only for Oscar to get even.  He retaliated and kicked one of the boys in the chin with his prosthetic leg, the boy fell to the floor, weeping, and Oscar was not bothered again.  When faced with adversity – Oscar picks himself up, Chambers cheats, with a ‘pick-me-up’. 

Oscar Pistorius

Pistorius currently awaits the result of his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against his Olympic ban.  The IAAF claims that Pistorius gains an unfair advantage through use of his prosthetic limbs and in early 2007 (around the time Pistorius was reaching the peak of his career so far) they introduced Rule 144.2 prohibiting:

‘The use of any technical device…that provides the user with an advantage over another athlete not using such a device.’

Oscar Pistorius has enough obstacles in the way of his destiny without this discriminatory intervention from the IAAF.  Of course this rule was tailor made to halt Oscar Pistorius, unless the IAAF had got wind that Britain’s failing sprinters were planning on utilising jet packs in competition.  Sarcasm aside, Oscar recalls one astonishing response from the IAAF:

“The IAAF said that they want competition to be between humans and not manufacturers.  They also said that if they didn’t ban technical aids then what is to stop athletes using roller blades or bicycles and they may as well allow athletes to compete with a jet pack on their back.”

It is clear that the IAAF have a fight on their hands.  Oscar’s father, Henke, can take a great deal of credit for his son’s resilient attitude:

“My brother, sister and I learnt from a young age not to include the words ‘I can’t’ in our vocabulary.  Our father always taught us that if you want to do something and you put your mind to it – you’ll get it done.”

Pistorius is unique, a one-off and therefore must be treated as an individual:

“In fourteen years of prosthetic limbs, no one has come close to the standard of able-bodies athletes.  I am 0.8 seconds away from qualifying form the South African Olympic team.”

“I don’t think a lot of people realise how hard you have to train to be a professional athlete.  With continual emphasises on the prosthetic limbs, it takes credit away from my hard training and ability as an athlete.  It’s basically saying that you can cut off any guy’s legs, give him these limbs and he’s going run awesome times.  You get out of them what you put in.”

The carbon fibre blades, which have earned Oscar the nickname of ‘Bladerunner’, are not new and they are not unfair.  Whilst not claiming to more than the scientific tests being carried out by the IAFF on Oscar’s limbs, common sense must prevail, whatever the result.  Banning Oscar from Olympic competition is sending the wrong message out to every human, disabled or not.

Dwain Chambers and Oscar Pistorius had/have the same goal – they just chose a different means of achieving it.  No matter what Chambers achieves, he will always be seen as a cheat.  Whatever Oscar’s achievements, he will be seen as an inspiration and a role model.

Pistorius is simply making the most out of a situation where most people would have given up long ago.  All he wants to do is compete at the highest level which is physically possible for him, why should any honest human being be denied that chance?  Subconsciously, Oscar Pistorius represents hope and determination. 

“My job is not to go and win every persons heart over about prosthetic limbs, my job is to be a professional athlete and run, at the end of the day.”

Oscar’s motto of ‘you get out what you put in’ would slot perfectly into an ideal society where justice and common sense prevail.  However, with supposedly sensible yet seemingly silly villains at the head of bodies, such as the IAAF, it shouldn’t be a surprise if we find out about doped up athletes having competed for Olympic glory in Beijing, when the honest and indomitable Oscar Pistorius was left at home.  He defines the word ‘inspiration’ and for his appeal to fail would contradict every value at the core of athletics.

 “You’re not disabled by the disabilities you have, you are able by the abilities you have.”