[Track and Field] Double amputee reaches 400m semis at world championships, unfair?

Of course it's unfair. He will never have callouses, corns, hammertime, etc.

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we will grow metal out of nowhere?!?!?

 

He shouldn't be allowed to compete as you can always bring up the thought of him needing less energy and muscles. There are leagues and tournaments for people with physical disabilites, while people without a disability compete against each other in their own leagues. It's as simple as that and the seperation makes total sense from a competitive standpoint.

 

I say let him run, but qualify any records or medals he achieves. There is just no way to know if the playing field is level or not, so I don't see how they can honor his times. Unfortunate, but true.

 

I'm with RR on this. I don't know whether his prosthesis give him an advantage or not but I think the day isn't that far off where artificial limbs, or even bionic enhancements to injured limbs will make them stronger than natural limbs. While for most of us we wouldn't consider removing our limbs just to gain an advantage but at the Olympic level where the drive to succeed is all consuming I strongly suspect that someone would be willing to do so to gain that advantage. Consider that anyone who plays a physically demanding sport is already willing to put up with amount of pain that hard training entails to get better.

Also what sort of precedent does Pistorius set? Should double amputee swimmers be allowed to race with blade like legs that weigh much less than real legs and have less drag?

 

yea its iffy but it does seem a bit unfair.. It would be like someone in boxing removing their arms and going JAX style from mortal kombat and replacing them with some titanium mechanical arm.

 

If he wins, this will lead to mass amputation of runners by the Chinese government.