Inclusion Daily Express -- Officials Ban 'Blade Runner' From Olympics

Inclusion Daily Express Logo

International Disability Rights News Service
Click here for today's headlines & home page

Keeping advocates informed, inspired and connected since 1999.
Click here for daily or weekly delivery . . . OR
Try Inclusion Daily Express for ten days FREE . . .

Officials Ban 'Blade Runner' From Olympics
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
January 15, 2008

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM--The organization that governs track and field competition for the Olympics ruled Monday that Paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius will not be allowed to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

The International Association of Athletics Federations said that the carbon fiber prosthetic legs that the South African uses give him an unfair advantage over other runners.

Pistorius, 21, was born without one of the long bones in each of his lower legs, so surgeons amputated both legs below the knees before he turned one year of age. For much of his life, he has used prosthetic legs.

For running, he uses curved "Cheetah" blades, that the IAAF said gives him a "demonstrable mechanical advantage (more than 30 percent) when compared to someone not using the blade."

The federation said it based its decision on a report from German researcher Gert-Peter Brueggemann who last summer studied Pistorius' prosthetic legs and determined that they allowed him to maintain the same speed as other runners, but with using much less energy.

Pistorius told the New York Times last week that he would appeal any decision that was not in his favor.

Nicknamed the 'Blade Runner', Pistorius set a world record in the 200-meter event during the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece. Since then, he has competed alongside athletes without disabilities in several international events.

Related:
"Amputee Barred From Olympics" (New York Times)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/2008/red/0115b.htm

Copyright © 2008 Inonit Publishing
Please do not reprint, forward, or post without permission.

Click here for top of this page

Purchase this story for your website or newsletter . . .

Here's what subscribers say about Inclusion Daily Express. . .

Keeping advocates informed, inspired and connected since 1999.
Click here for daily or weekly delivery . . . OR
Try Inclusion Daily Express for ten days FREE . . .

Get your news here!