Should ol robot legs be allowed to race in the olympics?

[DolaMight]

This guy pops up in the news about every 6 months. He doesn't want to race wheelchairs, he wants to race able bodied bipeds at the "normal" Olympics.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/05/16/sports/runner_650.11.jpg

He's now won an appeal allowing him to compete in qualifying for the Olympics.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/17/sports/olympics/17runner.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee sprinter who was barred from able-bodied competition in January, will be allowed to pursue his dream of qualifying for the Olympic Games after an unexpected decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/17/sports/olympics/17runner.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss)It's unfortunate that he lost his legs but these dual fiberglass catapults he calls mere prosthetic limbs obviously give him an inhuman advantage. They're not like the sawed-off crutch Terry Fox had duct taped on. They're engineered to launch you a stride forward with little effort compared to our cumbersome primitive lumberlegs.

It's clearly a case of handicapable discrimination. Jus sayin.

Would they allow Mafia Life Robot Arms in shotput? Little people riding Cheetah's in the 100m dash? It's a madhouse.

[Cleophus James]

Well just go back to the old days, Nude. I don't even like the new swim suit that makes people faster. I am going to put some stilts on and compete in Basketball.

The point is the "magic legs" give him and advantage the other racers do not have.

[Team_Ramrod]

If there is scientific evidence that crazy legs can have a mechanical advantage with the slingshots attached to his stumps then I disagree.

If they are a 'ergonomically correct' version of a peg leg and offer no advantage over those who are above him in Gods eyes, then I think he should be able to make an embarrasment of himself, his family and the Olympics in general.

[Knowledged_one]

if he were black then it would be a disadvantage but hes white and a sprinter so he wont qualify

[Cleophus James]

If they are a 'ergonomically correct' version of a peg leg and offer no advantage over those who are above him in Gods eyes, then I think he should be able to make an embarrasment of himself, his family and the Olympics in general.

Muscles and tendons get fatigue, screws and ergonomic peg legs do not. So even if it works the same, it isn't.

I congratulate you on spelling ergonomically. Thats way out of my range.

[scottinnj]

i won't be watching anyway. with all the censoring china is gearing up for, i would find it hard to believe any of the results anyway. i'm betting on a chinese runner sprinting the 100 meter dash in 2.3 seconds, or at least being told to believe that.

[joethebartender]

If there is scientific evidence that crazy legs can have a mechanical advantage with the slingshots attached to his stumps then I disagree.

In the story that I saw about him, (and I'm almost sure of my recollection of these numbers)...

the human ankle can return up to 81% of the energy put upon them, the prosthetics that this guy has can return over 90%.

The drawbacks for these things are on the starting blocks. There's no real blast forward, he has to get upright and into the sprint before he can get the fullest out of them.

Also...he's crap on a wet track. (His mother is not a mudder.) No traction... and he has wiped out in big events when the track is slick. Goodyear and Nascar are working on the problem as we speak.