Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius, born 22 November 1986, South African sprint runner known as the "Blade Runner" and "the fastest man on no legs" who has a double amputation, is the world record holder for sport class T44 in the 100, 200 and 400 metres events and runs with the aid of Cheetah Flex-Foot carbon fibre transtibial artificial limbs (wikipedia.com). He is the first double-amputee to compete in track at the Olympics."Couldn't have hoped for anything better," he said.
The 25-year-old runner was born without fibulas and his legs were amputated below the knee before he was a year old. His is one of those stories that is every bit as much about the journey — one part dramatic, another part inspiring and yet another part controversial — as the final result.
Source: AOL Sporting News
Comments:
There were debates before if whether the blades gave Pistorius an unfair advantage or not. Setting aside the skill of an athlete, the carbon-fiber blades "MAY" induce a great advantage to him. I don't like to sound arrogant but the dimension and weight of the blades would greatly affect the overall performance of Oscar Pistorius. The effect depends on how the athlete manuevers the blades. Having that said, it could be of his advantage or not.
Oscar was duly approved by the Olympics committee hence my assumptions here can be set aside but the things mentioned above are pretty much strong arguments. By the way, I am not against Oscar. He is a talented athlete and he skills surpasses several sprinters across the globe. To oscar Pistorius, good luck!
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