Oscar Pistorius will not be competing in the Olympics opposite able-bodied athletes.

... says the blaring headlines. The decision is final; it's over, done with, just move on.

But the dream is not over, not for this resilient young man. A man who wants to race alongside able-bodied athletes, in a valiant effort to convince the world to look beyond disability.  

Introduction - Who is Oscar Pistorius?

Have you heard of this daring young man? He's a 22 year old South African who's become a bit of a sports star in his Rainbow Nation. All the more surprising if when you realize that he is also a double amputee has artificial legs.

Wired covers a little bit of his early childhood. Pistorius was born without the fibula in either of his legs and his legs had to be amputated before his first birthday. It was a tough decision for any parent to make - pick the wheelchair or opt for prosthetic legs after amputation.

What's amazing about Pistrius is his spirit and endurance. His is an inspiring tale of perserverance and willpower. In several events for the disabled, including the Paralympics, he has broken the world record on multiple occasions. He has won a gold medal for several of these events. And most importantly, he refuses to feel sorry for himself: in his own words,  "You're not disabled by the disabilities you have, you are able by the abilities you have."


So why are we talking about Pistorius?

Oscar Pistorius has been making headlines, all for rather controversial reasons.

In a nutshell, he wanted to compete opposite able-bodied athletes in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. However, the International Association of Athletics  Federation (I.A.A.F) has countered his attempts, on multiple occasions. Despite their latest ruling which prohibited him from competing in the Olympics, Pistorius was able to reverse their decision by appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (C.A.S), who ruled in his favor.

Sadly, Pistorius was ultimately not chosen for the South African team because he failed qualify for the 400 metres race.

Arguments  against Pistorius

The IAAF seem to consider Pistorius as  bit of a superhuman figure.

The bone of contention are his prosthetic legs. They are J-shaped carbon-fibre type created by an Iceland-based company called Ossur. Perhaps it is the name of the legs that throws people off - it goes by the catchy name, "Cheetah Flex-Foot".

Perhaps they have been moved by claims that his artifical legs are longer than a biological leg. The basic argument here is that longer legs give him a longer stride, hence it results in him being able to run faster.

A second rather popular claim by IAAF themselves is with the 'mechanical nature' of his legs, the way in which his legs are not subject to the build-up of lactic acid that slows down even athletes like Wariner. It's interesting to note here that the effort made by rest of the body is not taken into consideration when making such claims.

Counter Arguments to These Claims

Time and again, many have countered these claims. Sometimes it is Pistorius' coach Ambie Louw. Other supporters have Ossur, the brains behind the prosthetic legs, various scholars who champion the cause of human rights and most noteably, Trevor Brauckmann, the prosthetisit for Pistorius.

Furthermore, they repeatedly point out the unfairness of emphasizing so-called advantages whilst refusing to acknowledge the glaring disadvantages.

Who else would know the setbacks first hand better than Coach Louw. He counters all of the negativity surrounding Pistorius' Cheetah blades by stating that,

... his knees do not flex as readily, limiting his power output. His grip can be unsure in the rain. And when he runs into a headwind or grows fatigued, he must fight rotational forces that turn his prosthetic devices sideways,

Doesn't sound like running is a breeze, does it?

Robert Gailey, an associate professor of physical therapy at the University of Miami Medical School, ponders whether all claims directed at Pistorius doesn't have a deeper, more distrurbing undertone - that people are just not ready to see a physically disabled man competing and possibly winning against able-bodied men. What are people scared of?

Gailey sheds light on the pros and cons faced by the famous star. Being a familiar face at numerous disabled sports, there's no reason to doubt him when he stresses the number of obstacles in the way of a Pistorius' training.

According to Gailey, a prosthetic leg returns only about 80 percent of the energy absorbed in each stride, while a natural leg returns up to 240 percent, providing much more spring.

Ossur, the company that makes the blades, sums up the situation rather well. Regarding the controversy surrounding the legs, they had ths to say on their site,

Bionic limbs often incorporate sensors, microprocessors, and motors that have the ability to supply powered movement and responses for the user, based on feedback captured throughout the gait cycle.
The Cheetah is a passive foot, which means it is limited to returning a portion of the energy stored during the loading phase of running. Studies have shown the Cheetah can return around 90% of the load applied to it.  In contrast, a normal able-bodied foot/ankle/gastroc system can return 249%.

The most touching account comes from Trevor Brauckmaan, the athlete's prosthetisit.

In an Open Letter to the Editor of The Final Sprint, he counters all the claims against Pistorius as a mechanically emhanced 'cyborg' of sorts, a cyborg who seems to owe his fame to supper enchanced 'blades' (his legs) and just that.

Some of the disadvantages depicted by Brauckmann involve the actual hardships of using prosthetic legs.  As he points out, "... you have to take in account a whole lot of extra factors like balance, stumps that hurt and bleed, size and volume changes in the stumps...". In addition to this, he emphasizes problems of"loss of muscles, skeletal stability, and problems with nerve endings, loss of sensation and many other physiological problems".

So what does this mean? Why aren't any of these factors being considered when talking about 'super-human' speed? Why isn't anyone willing to factor in the fact that Pistorius has to train himself harder than others to be able to run using the prosthetic legs? 

IAAF tests Pistorus

Before anyone asks the magical question, yes, the IAAF did subject Pistorius to a few days of testing to verify these claims. And according to them,  it was proven that Pistorius' Cheetah blades did give him an advantage over other athletes.

Basically, the report from the findings claimed that the "... Cheetahs, were more efficient than a human ankle" and that Pistorius seemed to be able to run faster, where the Cheetahs  "... could return energy in maximum speed sprinting and that Pistorius was able to keep up with a few able-bodied sprinters while expending about 25 percent less energy". Read more about the report here.

However there were were some glaring flaws in these findings. For instance, Jeffrey Kessler, an attorney from the firm Dewey & Leboeuf who took on Pistorius' case, points out that"... only took a very small portion of the prosthetics' total effect into account". His most telling comment that IAAF may have decided on the result way before the investigation had been finalised is more disturbing; in his own words, "the IAAF had not at all follow proper procedures in conducting any of its review. Many of its results were in many respects pre-ordained."

Does IAAF have a problem with Pistorius' disability?