Prosthetic-Limbed Runner Disqualified from Olympic Games

contraba55 wrote with a link to an Engadget story on a sign of the postmodern times. Oscar Pistorius, a world-class sprinter, has been denied a shot at participating in the Olympics this year. He's a double-amputee, but he's not out because of his handicap; he's disqualified because he's faster than most sprinters. "The runner — who uses carbon-fiber, prosthetic feet — was reviewed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (or IAAF), a review which found the combination of man and machine to be too much for its purely human competitors. According to the IAAF report, the 'mechanical advantage of the blade in relation to the healthy ankle joint of an able bodied athlete is higher than 30-percent.' Additionally, Pistorius uses 25-percent less energy than average runners due to the artificial limbs, therefore giving him an unfair advantage on the track."

I never thought I'd see the day ...

[Buran]

This is the first time I've heard of a handicapped person being discriminated against because they're too good. As someone who's hard of hearing, I find 99% of bias against me coming from the fact that I'm not good enough.

Spring instead of 'feet'

[Tungbo]

The 'blade' does look like a spring. When he's just walking around, one can see him bouncing up and donw a bit. So this seems reasonable. He might qualify if he used a different prosthetic technology. I just hope athletes don't start thinking about replacing their naturla legs to get 'a leg up'!

Get over it.

[Besna]

I am a transhumanist--behind it all the way. Stories like this trivialize the serious nature of transhumanism. It's not about implanting a bike or something. It's about the relief of suffering, and the unlocking of our true abilities. Read Kurzweil's latest books. Go to Transworld or the Singularity Summit. Betterhumans.com is growing in quality. Sentientdevelopments.blogspot.com feature George Dvorsky, an experienced thinker and speaker. The wise atheists among us don't need to be told the obvious--that our disabled are quickly become our first transhumans. The real developments await.

Isn't there a Special Olympics

[microbee]

for people just like him?

It'd be unfair either way, for him or for the normal athletes.

Re:I never thought I'd see the day ...

[Otter]

Wheelchair racers aren't recognized as the overall winners of marathons, even though they're far faster than runners. I don't understand why that's completely acceptable but there's so much controversy over this guy, who is doing pretty much the same thing.

It's just common sense

[Lucas123]

If you allowed a amputees who became superior athletes after their injuries to participate in the olympics and they began winning, everyone would start cutting off their legs.

Re:I never thought I'd see the day ...

[Itninja]

I have friends in the deaf community, and I have seen others show discomfort around them because their communication methods are (according to some) more advanced. My friends can carry on complete conversations, silently, from across the room - using ASL. And they can, by lip reading, tell what others are saying even if they are out of voice range.

Any downside?

[GloomE]

Does anyone know of any downside to lopping your legs off below the knee and "installing" a pair of these?

I know someone who's feet and ankle bones are fusing/disintegrating, why shouldn't they look forward to this?

Re:I never thought I'd see the day ...

[unlametheweak]

To be fair, people would have to run against people of the exact same size, wieght, shape and metabolism, and preferably have psychological and neurological tests done to make sure they are of the same mental AND physical makeup, otherwise one athlete will have an advantage over another.

This example of the blade runner just amplifies the unfairness of the Olympics, and it's rather farcical nature. As far as I know there is no way to absolutely and conclusively test for substances (hormones, or otherwise) that could give a person an advantage. If the Olympics was not based on competition, then cheating would not be a concern; but for some reason some people want to believe that the Olympics is promoting sport and presumably a healthy lifestyle.

Go-Go Gadget Sports Advantage

[decipher_saint]

I wonder how long it will be before cybernetic sports become a reality?

I mean, think about it. Soccer can be a rough sport but it's nothing compared to American Football. The game is faster and rougher and vastly supported (and in my opinion enhanced) by technology (helmets, pads, shoes, etc). But that would be nothing if players were augmented in such a way to play faster / better / stronger.

Granted, most athletes won't cut their feet off for speed enhancing powers a prosthetic might bestow just yet, but how far off are we from seeing "cybersports" develop and shift into the mainstream?

Old news and bad reporting

[tyrantking31]

First of all, he got trashed in a race against olympic caliber sprinters earlier this year. Second, as one of the previous posts pointed out, his cyborg legs were disqualified not him. If he grows new legs, he's in. Third, there are at least two problems that led to the disqualification of the prosthetics, 1. the prosthetics provide less air resistance and second, they enable the wearer to reverse his energy efficiency; meaning that he is faster at the end of the race than at the beginning. Human sprinters are usually slower at the end of the race. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=trackandfield&id=2937538 [go.com] http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/trackandfield/news/story?id=2938043 [go.com]

Re:good, no precedent

[moderatorrater]

I can tell you without an once of hesitation that if I could trade my legs for $20 million, I'd do it in an instant.

Re:I never thought I'd see the day ...

[elBart0]

They're not discriminating against him, or even all prosthetic limbs. They are simply saying that those particular prosthetics give an unfair mechanical advantage. Someone else is free to develop different prosthetic legs that do not give as much of a mechanical advantage, and those may, possibly, be acceptable.

Open Class and Stock Class

[Anonymous Coward]

Sometimes I think sports should have Open Class and Stock Class. Stock Class athletes would be required to compete with a standard human body -- no enhancing drugs, no springy feet, etc. Open Class athletes could use anything they wanted: prosthetics, drugs, whatever.

There is a down side to Open Class...

"And it's one minute to go... 'Wild Man Jones' is injecting his final enhancers... whoa, look at those convulsions! And there's the bell... they're off and running, except for Jones. Guess those latest enhancers were still Beta-test quality, heh heh... oh wait, he stopped moving. Yikes, look at that head explode! I haven't seen anything like this since I watched Scanners [imdb.com]!"

Of course sometimes I think the above would make sports MORE popular. :-/

Re:I never thought I'd see the day ...

[rucs_hack]

I've fancied trying some of those spring legs for a while. They aren't just for amputees. The US military are, if I recall correctly, investigating this technology (in computer assisted form) for groundpounders (oh dear, the B5 fandom is showing).

I can see why he'd be disqualified, although it must be sad for him. Surely he must have realised the chances were slim though, those things are far too good.

And that logic is asinine

[Rix]

Should we limit the training time athletes may invest? After all, you shouldn't have to destroy your career to have a chance at winning (these are, after all, supposed to be amature athletes).

It's time to take the gloves off. Let the Olympics be a spectacle of what the human form (which intrinsically includes human technology) can do. Bring on the biotech!

Re:In other news...

[Otter]

In fact, Bonds *does* wear a performance-enhancing mechanical device [wordpress.com] on his elbow, that not only allows him to lean over the plate but also locks his swing into a groove and provides some mechanical advantages.

Re:man...

[Anonymous Coward]

It makes sense -- if you're in figure skating, you should have a figure.

Every time, I see an unnecessary comma, I think; am I reading the musings of Christopher Walken?

Better study needed

[nrlightfoot]

What they really need to do is time someone, cut off their legs, and them give them prosthetics's. That would prove once and for all that they aren't an advantage. Missing 30% of your leg muscle more than makes up for a 30% mechanical advantage.

Re:I never thought I'd see the day ...

[neomunk]

This is exactly why I feel we need 2 major leagues in most sports, an possibly 2 separate Olympic competitions. One for unaugmented humans the other for augmented humans. Let this guy compete against a Ben Johnson (I think that was his name, not gonna google it) who likes the steroids and EPO. Even better, let him juice up on EPO (I think steroids would be a bit of a waste on this guy, he just needs to maximize oxygen flow to the existing muscles) and fuel his engine that pumps those custom-designed fast-as-possible titanium legs...

*shrugs* I think plenty of people would still watch the 'natural' people play, at least enough to keep it profitable. The 'superhuman' league however would probably start topping Hollywood for our entertainment dollars. I know -I'LL- tune into chemo-cyborg overlords knocking each other around on a football field, and I don't even watch sports. If this catches on where rugby is popular, that'd be really exciting, and possibly lethal, but that's what waivers are for...

Re:I never thought I'd see the day ...

[Bombula]

I'm all for a 'modified' Olympics. There was a funny SNL skit years ago that featured the 'All-Steroid Olympics'. I actually think it's a great idea, and not just with drugs but with any body modification people can imagine. You could have simple rules, like banning wheels for certain 'foot' races, etc, but I'd love to see what people come up with. Hell, major league sports are exciting because of the incredible feats these guys perform. If they need steroids or plastic legs to do it, so what? Given the steroid situation in MLB in the news recently, I think the verdict from the public is already pretty much in on this: if it means they hit more home runs, let these animals juice themselves into oblivion if they want to. They're adults; it's their choice.

Re:I never thought I'd see the day ...

[Blakey Rat]

Obligatory H. G. Wells link:

http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/2157/ [readbookonline.net]

His short story, the Country of the Blind in which he challenges the assertion that "in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." Turns out that sight isn't nearly as much of an advantage in a society designed by the blind as one may think.

Re:Clap skates

[Abreu]

Sadly, the original Olympics did not have any competitions for women... And I have no intentions of watching weiners flop around during a race!

Re:Headline not accurate. (Surprise!)

[Joe Tie.]

I've wanted this ever since I watched the Olympics and realized how bored I was. Putting people who won the genetic lottery into similar training programs and seeing who comes out on top isn't that interesting to me. But pushing people 'beyond' their natural limits, and in the process potentially expanding the meaning of being human and the possibilities for the species at large...that's interesting.

Two words: insurance fraud

[Anonymous Coward]

It's something that I would never recommend, counsel, or facilitate, but it does seem to fit your needs.

Re:Liberal use of a clue stick is indicated...

[SuSEboy]

Hey x0, you're an ass. The only energy you get from a bicycle is what you put into it, so why don't we let bicyclists race against runners? The same goes with those spring-legs.

Why are springs not more common?

[KlaymenDK]

The legs aren't generally superior though, just superior for this single purpose (sprinting on a solid high-traction surface). It's no surprise at all, he's basically running on springs -- said as much in the report: 91% of the energy that goes into compressing the things on step-down return on step-up, which is vastly better than the 50% or so that a human ankle can do.

This makes perfect sense, and to a degree I can understand the decision to disallow him to compete.

But on the other hand, it's brought to light an old thought of mine, because I've seen those springy "shoes" before: if they are so much more effective, then why don't we see more springs in regular running shoes?
I mean sure, for competitions there might be strict rules (as for racing bicycles, for instance), but for amateur or non-competition use there should be a huge benefit to incorporating springs. Maybe not as exaggerated as in disabled runners' "feet" (because care and training would be involved), but some form of booster between the shoe and the sole should be possible, as more than a mere kid's toy that is.

If people are walking, running, skating and biking across town, why not add 'bouncing' to the mix! :-)

Re:Spring instead of 'feet'

[Loke the Dog]

I think you're underestimating how dedicated most pro athletes are. They wouldn't think twice about cutting of their legs if thats what it took.

Many of them actually have constant pain that they just ignore because the doc told them it won't get worse. Its a fact that they get much shorter lives than other people. They start at a very young age, and have no "normal" life from that point on. I could go on, but the point is that what makes them different from the rest of us is not their bodies, but their minds. They are very often psychos. Try getting their honest opinion on politics and you'll realize that.