Oh this pisses me off!

Has anyone heard this story. Its a story of a South African named Oscar Pistorius who was born without fibulas in both legs due to a congenital condition. He has set records in the 100, 200 and 400 meter sprints at Paralympic events, while running with the aid of carbon fiber transtibial artificial limbs. These limbs are refered to as "Cheetahs". This is a great story upto this part, now is where i become pissed off.

Oscar wants the opportunity to compete at the Beijing Olympics, but not in the Paralympics, Oscar wants to compete with able bodied athletes. In January the track and field's governing body said prosthetic blades give the South African an unfair advantage over able-bodied runners. So they ruled that he was not permitted to partisipate.

The International Association of Athletics Federations said in its January 14 verdict that Pistorius' "cheetahs" are considered technical aids and are in clear violation of an IAAF rule.

The IAAF said it used the results of an independent scientific study carried out by Professor Peter Bruggemann at the German Sport University in Cologne to weigh its decision. The study compared Pistorius with five able-bodied athletes who are capable of similar levels of performance at 400 meters. In conclusion, the study showed Pistorius was able to run with his prosthetic blades at the same speed as the able-bodied sprinters with about 25 percent less energy expenditure. As soon as a certain speed was reached, running with the prosthetics needed less additional energy than running with natural limbs, according to the study.

In its Friday ruling, the Court of Arbitration for Sport( CAS ) panel determined that the IAAF Rule 144.2(e) -- use of any technical device that incorporates springs, wheels or any other element that provides the user with an advantage over another athlete not using such a devise -- was likely adopted in March of 2007 with Pistorius in mind, and that the testing done in Cologne was likely distorted against Pistorius.

So now if he can make the qualifying times, he can partisipate in Beijing.

The facts above were gathered from a TSN article.

Let me first start off by saying this is the biggest joke that i have ever seen. I get pissed off when people want to cross over like this, i will give examples. Michelle Wei trying to compete against men on the PGA tour, big joke, should never happen. Its a stunt, nothing more.

Now, everyone probably thinks that i am being mean or discriminating against him because he has no legs, guess what, it IS because you have no legs! You do not meet the requirements as an able bodied athlete and you are using aids to help you, but people are afraid to speak up because of a fear of looking like they dont care or are discriminating against a person with a disability. This is the reason we hold an Olympic Games, Paralympics and Specail Olympics was to give a level playing field for all athletes. I really hope that he does not qualify for the Olympics, because he shouldn't be given the opportunity. If this makes me a heartless bastard, so be it! I just see it as a slippery slope, when we start opening open options like this. What if i could get metal implants that helped me run, are they legal? How about bionic knees? The IOC and every sports body say that they want a level playing field for our athletes, hence the reason steroids are looked down upon. So how can someone look me in the eye and say that its a level playing field, when one person doesnt have feet? He has spring like devices called "cheetahs", come on people. Have we gotten so politically correct that we are afraid to say these things? I just hope that we dont have to have this discussion in Beijing. What if he wins a medal, what then?