Gareth Davies

I wrote on piece on October 6 2004 in the Telegraph with a quote from Brian Frasure, a brilliant American fellow who just happened to be one of the best single amputee sprinters in the world. Frasure said this:
"If that guy gets any quicker his future will end up in the hands of attorneys". He was talking about Oscar Pistorius, known to us all as 'Blade Runner'.

Well, that day has now arrived, with double-amputee Pistorius having been told his prosthetic limbs give him an unfair advantage. The IAAF have ruled that he is ineligible to compete at this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing, and any IAAF able-bodied events. In veiled terms, they believe that scientific evidence has discovered that he is gaining an advantage. How the worm turns.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced their decision this week after studying the findings of an independent, two-day scientific investigation which took place in Cologne, Germany last November.

A friend and rival, Matt Pryor, who has written about Pistorius at the Paralympic Games, is in the process of making a documentary about the lad who has taken the world by storm. It should provide a fascinating insight into what Pistorius, a great guy and role model, has been going through.

What grates in this, though, is some commentators suggesting that Pistorius is chasing an Olympic dream - in the hope of a lucrative financial contract. Put two of those kind of cynics together and it would be like watching two bald men fighting of a comb. What can any critic of that type hope to gain from such twisted views?

The IAAF's statement was as follows: The 21-year-old South African's "cheetah" carbon fibre blades were technical aids in clear contravention of IAAF rules. That effectively bans Pistorius from competing against able-bodied athletes. Pistorius, I am told, will first seek a decision from the Court of Arbitration in Sport, and thereafter will take legal action in his bid to run in Beijing this August. "It is evident that an athlete using the "Cheetah" prosthetic is able to run at the same speed as able-bodied athletes with lower energy consumption. Running with prosthetic blades leads to less vertical motion combined with less mechanical work for lifting the body. As well as this, the energy loss in the blade is significantly lower than in the human ankle joints in sprinting at maximum speed. An athlete using this prosthetic blade has a demonstrable mechanical advantage (more than 30%) when compared to someone not using the blade." So - it's official. Pistorius has an advantage. But does that mean that the single amputees he runs against in the Paralympic Games classification are also now at a disadvantage ?
That very thing was raised by the American single amputee sprinters at the Athens Paralympics. It has perhaps opened a can of worms. And big names from the Paralympic movement were notably absent in commenting this week. If blades, as seen by the IAAF, are 'technical aids', perhaps the IPC need to make a comment on this.

Nearer to home, and in spite of the Parasport site being launched only eight months, it is changing lives dramatically. Take two cases. Sam Challenger has used the Parasport site and discovered that being in a wheelchair was not the end of his passion for skiing. Another is Christina, who was able to continue her love of horse riding thanks to the advice and guidance she got though Parasport. Her mother sent the following message.

"Christina is ten years old and has cerebral palsy with associated visual perceptual difficulties. She has had a love for animals all of her life and would like to be a vet when she is older. She attends Trinity Middle School which is a mainstream middle school on the Isle of Wight. Her hobbies mostly centre around pony riding but she also enjoys swimming, going to the gym, girl guides and quad biking. Christina used to be a very shy and timid girl who was very unsure of herself but her horse riding has given her a huge confidence boost and allows her to really believe in herself. Christina went through a really difficult period with her riding as it is difficult to find specialist saddlery, especially for small ponies but with a lot of help from the Parasport website, our local RDA and her riding teacher she now rides with blocks in front and behind her legs which are on loan from our local RDA.

Since the introduction of the blocks Christina's riding has come on leaps and bounds she now walks trots and canters virtually independently and has just started to jump small jumps. She also rides with the local pony club and has done local spider rides and jumping competitions all of which are with her able-bodied friends. Her ambition is to maybe compete with the Paralympic team at dressage." Brilliant. We will watch Christina's progress with interest.