Paralympics 2008

does anyone else have an issue with this guy being in the paraolympics? if he went to court and was allowed to goto the "normal" olympics but didnt get the time, should he be allowed to use this competition as a fall back?
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I think the situation needs clarifying now,as to wether it is acceptable for disabled athletes to compete in the "proper" Olympics.
Oscar Pistorius is capable of under 11 seconds,and I would'nt be surprised if his "top speed" was a match for any able bodied 100m sprinter.So how long until a set of blades is developed,that allow him(or somebody like him) to perfect their drive phase,and start taking the scalps of the top able bodied athletes.
The reality is,that at some point the able-bodied athletes may become the inferior athletes.
 
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howsertrading said:
I think the situation needs clarifying now,as to wether it is acceptable for disabled athletes to compete in the "proper" Olympics.
Oscar Pistorius is capable of under 11 seconds,and I would'nt be surprised if his "top speed" was a match for any able bodied 100m sprinter.So how long until a set of blades is developed,that allow him(or somebody like him) to perfect their drive phase,and start taking the scalps of the top able bodied athletes.
The reality is,that at some point the able-bodied athletes may become the inferior athletes.
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It was only recently that living with prosthetic legs was seen as a huge impediment, but Pistorius has turned this perception upside down. He's on the cusp of a paradigm shift in which disability becomes ability, disadvantage becomes advantage.
However, we must try very hard to not lose sight of what makes any athlete into a trully great athlete.
It's far too easy to credit Pistorius' success to technology, however we must always remember that through birth or circumstance, some people in this world are given certain gifts, but it's what one does with those gifts, the hours devoted to training, the desire to be the best, that is at the true heart of a champion.
How can anyone say that the way Pistorius has trained and dedicated himself to be the best in his area, is any different to the way in which Sir Steve Redgrave, or Dame Kelly Holmes did it.
 
How can anyone say that the way Pistorius has trained and dedicated himself to be the best in his area, is any different to the way in which Sir Steve Redgrave, or Dame Kelly Holmes did it.
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I agree completely,but the fact remains that this is going to cause a lot of problems in the field of sport in the future.Are we going to allow bionic athletes to compete with non-bionic athletes.If we are,then there may be a point some time in the future where the average able-bodied athlete winning a gold medal may become a rarity.
 
howsertrading said:
I agree completely,but the fact remains that this is going to cause a lot of problems in the field of sport in the future.Are we going to allow bionic athletes to compete with non-bionic athletes.If we are,then there may be a point some time in the future where the average able-bodied athlete winning a gold medal may become a rarity.
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The rules should be set such that the average athlete with blades has no more advantage than the average able bodied athlete without blades.
The technoology is still young and obviously it will advance, but as long as rules are put in place early enough, I cannot see it becoming an overwhelming advantage to have blades.
Obviously we will still get people like Oscar Pistorius, and Usain Bolt who are anything but average, and you can never legislate for those sort of people.
 
Great Britain still in second spot in the medal table


Position, Country, Golds, Silvers, Bronzes, Total Medals.
1 China 34 40 27 101
2 Great Britain 29 17 15 61
3 United States 20 12 15 47
4 Australia 13 15 14 42
5 Ukraine 12 9 15 36

Doing really well, as I thought, not much chance of overtaking China, as they have such a huge home advantage.

Roll on 2012 we should then be able to top the medal table.
 
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Its just a shame that even when we are doing so well we arent getting a decent level of coverage.
 
I find this better to watch then the normal Olympics:eek:

I not happy with what Australia have done. In the wrong lane? So what? should have complain when in the lane not when they never won gold! I think Weir would have been able to win anyway because he was holding them all back until the final sprint. This isn't the first time a race has had to be re-run because of protests.
 
YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! :D

And rightly so!
They didnt really have the basis for an appeal in the first place, and if they objected to the line they were in they should have said so before the race, and not thrown their toys out of the pram when they didnt get the gold.
 
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