Amputee Denied Olympic DreamOscar Pistorius, the double amputee from South Africa will not be competing in Beijing after failing to reach the required A standard time and was not invited to the 4x400m relay. This particular topic has been one of mixed emotions for me and in a sense its a relief and a disappointment that Pistorius did not make the Olympics.
I am relieved because one of the biggest negatives of NBC's Olympic coverage is their over-the-top in depth personal stories that they fill in between starts of the 100m dash. I do not mind them, but a lot of times they go over the top and it gets old. I would rather see more of the athletes competing than standing around posing for their personal interest stories. We know, that if Pistorius had made the Olympics they would have talked about his struggles (which are legit) and the controversy surrounding the use of his carbon-fiber blades. Personaly I could do with out...
I am mixed, because it is hard to quantify the advantage Pistorius gets from his blades. There is, in my opinion (which doesn't mean much) an advantage from a material standpoint as the blades will return a significant amount of energy, but since Pistorius has been a double amputee for almost his entire life, there is simply no way to quantify his advantage. Either way, at least for Beijing, the dispute has been settled where it should have been...on the track. Accourding to Pistorius's agent, he had a slower time than the top 6 South African 400m runners times, therefore not deserving a place on the team. This case is far from over however and it will soon be back before us as London 2012 nears closer. Only 16 more day!!!
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