Paralympic Athletics

[Guerrilla]

I think he said that they had tried to get something done about it before the race and hadn't been listened to. Perhaps he felt that the only way he would get anywhere would be by bringing it up with so many people watching.

I thought that too, might feel he has nothing to lose by making it more public if he feels there is definitely an issue.

...be correctly sized for the athelete like an everyday prosthetic (not just conform to some set sizes but be correct for the man) thus negating and artificial advantage a competitor can have over another.

I think this was part of what Oscar was alluding too when he said atheletes were turning and being way taller than they were previously.


Hopefully it'll get sorted one way or another and won't shift the focus too much from the actual events.

 

[El_Watcher]

What about the events where some people turn up with one leg, one blade, and others have two blades?

I was watching Richard Whitehead win his event, and thinking surely he has a massive advantage on two perfectly equal blades, when half the other guys have one bouncy quick blade and one normal leg.

 

[Guerrilla]

What about the events where some people turn up with one leg, one blade, and others have two blades?

I was watching Richard Whitehead win his event, and thinking surely he has a massive advantage on two perfectly equal blades, when half the other guys have one bouncy quick blade and one normal leg.

They are different classififcations, so in theory you could finish last but still break a world record for your classification.

They race against each other as the advantages/disadvantages tend to even out, the athletes with 2 prosthetics are traditionally much poorer at the starts but quicker once they get into their stride.

For some events, more usually the field events, they use a points system to even it up, so you could get a lesser distance but with a more severe disability and win the competition.


That is a great picture

 

[ThomasTheTankEngine]

What about the events where some people turn up with one leg, one blade, and others have two blades?

I was watching Richard Whitehead win his event, and thinking surely he has a massive advantage on two perfectly equal blades, when half the other guys have one bouncy quick blade and one normal leg.

The lack of knees sort of balances it out I think.

 

[Skeeter]

Whilst a different class, doesn't Whitehead compete 'up' a class in the same way that Pistorias and the Brazillian guy do?

Not having both legs is considered a higher disability than having 1 leg, so Whitehead is in a lower class than all those around him in that picture, but because of his speed, he competes in the higher, less disabled class.

Pistorias is the same, he's a T43 (double below knee amputee) while he competes in the T44 (single below knee amputee) class as he is so much faster than all the other T43 competitors.

Whitehead is a double above knee competing in the single above knee class (I don't know the class numbers).

 

[Muban]

To be honest, saying they conform to regulations doesn't really mean much when the regulations have never been pushed like this, in F1 the regulations have changed a lot over the years due to technological advances

Agreed. I guess what I was saying was that technically what the Brazilian did wasn't illegal. However, that doesn't mean they shouldn't be looking at the rules to see if they need to be changed to keep things fair.

TLDR/Conclusion: I think all the prosthetics for a set event/race should be made by the same prosthetic company and be of the same model/design, and be correctly sized for the athelete like an everyday prosthetic (not just conform to some set sizes but be correct for the man) thus negating and artificial advantage a competitor can have over another.

While I see what you are getting at, would that work? I mean the sort of prosthetic required for one person may differ significantly from another depending on how much of their limb is missing (this is bound to be a huge variable). But I agree the sort of prosthetics available should be tightly controlled.

 

[bam0]

Looking online today it seems the difference is that Pistorius' blades are certified by the IAAF so he can compete in events with able bodied people, whereas the IPC has it's own rules which allow for longer blade lengths, I presume he doesn't want to muddy the issue but according to the IPC rules he could run blades that would make him 8cm taller.

 

[mmj_uk]

If Pistorius had run the same time he did in the semi final he would have won it but it's good to see that he has reopened the debate on blades.

Pistorius was wrong about Oliveira making longer strides he actually made more strides than Pistorius did, so unless Oliveira improved a lot physically it is probably a case of the longer prosthesis' being more 'springy', if that is the case then how can we be sure Pistorius's blades aren't giving him an advantage over able bodied people?

 

[ps3ud0]

You mean he took more strides therefore had a shorter stride length than Pistorius even with the longer blades...

ps3ud0

 

[bam0]

if that is the case then how can we be sure Pistorius's blades aren't giving him an advantage over able bodied people?

Because of all the work he had to do to get the IAAF to certify his current blades, you wouldn't see Oliveira competing in an IAAF event on those blades he was using.

 

[HangTime]

Coming from 8 meters behind to pass a guy running at ~23mph, and doing it in <100m means he was gaining gained a meter on him for every ~13 they ran.

Has that actually been proven though? I know Pistorius glanced at a vid straight after the race and came up with some numbers, but was Oliveira a full 8m behind in reality? Did Pistorius mantain his 10m/s throughout the whole home straight?

Pistorius was wrong about Oliveira making longer strides he actually made fewer strides than Pistorius did

That doesn't make sense; if Oliveira made fewer strides that weren't longer than Pistorius, then it would be impossible for him to finish ahead (unless Pistorius was massively delayed coming out of the blocks, which he wasn't). Either his strides were longer, he made more of them, or both.

 

[mmj_uk]

That doesn't make sense; if Oliveira made fewer strides that weren't longer than Pistorius, then it would be impossible for him to finish ahead (unless Pistorius was massively delayed coming out of the blocks, which he wasn't). Either his strides were longer, he made more of them, or both.

Yeah sorry brain fart, what I meant was Pistorius accused Oliveiras blades of allowing him to make fewer & longer strides, in the actual race Oliveira made a higher number of strides than Pistorius did which proves Pistorius wrong.

 

[estebanrey]

In other words, his legs just moved a lot faster than Pistorius' did

 

[mmj_uk]

In other words, his legs just moved a lot faster than Pistorius' did

Yep.

So either the longer blades are somehow allowing Oliveira's legs to move faster (more spring?) or Pistorus is just a rotten loser.

 

[Sean_UK]

Well earned Bronze tonight for that Liverpool lad in 1500m, considering how poor he was in morning heats.

 

[ps3ud0]

Off to the Athletics tomorrow, looking forward to how the 4x100m relay is run and how they cope with changeover considering how poor it was dealt with in the Olympics...

ps3ud0

 

[Sean_UK]

Off to the Athletics tomorrow

Evening or morning session?

 

[ps3ud0]

Just the morning - was hoping to catch some more events as they released but didnt get the chance - good excuse to check out the Park though...

ps3ud0

 

[Sean_UK]

Weathers supposed to be good too, enjoy

 

[Guerrilla]

Really looking forward to the 100m tonight and it's not even the finals... Pistorius' rematch with the Brazilian and GBs Johnny Peacock thrown in the mix too

Womens 100m final tonight too for T42.


Edit: Peacock looking fast indeed there!

Pistorius also looked good, with a great start, something he isn't known for.