Olympic Games Blades Sprinter - Comments?

July 5, 2012

A man much previously discussed on our board is now entered in two running

events at the Summer Games.

For discussion, I'd like to ask our group a couple of questions:

1. Will inclusion of and his blades end up impairing the Special Olympics

and the other special Games for those with physical and mental challenges by

encouraging such entrants to pass up them up for the mainstream?

2. Are the blades themselves " fair " against the meat feet and legs of the other

competitors? There has been some discussion about the energy savings and other

concerns - that the blades are more " springy " and possibly " better " than meat

feet/legs?

3. If you believe the blades are " fair " for running events, would you also

believe they retain that " fairness " if you were to see them entered in the high

jump or other more " springy " events? Would they be an " unfair " advantage in say,

high hurtles as well?

4. If ends up defeating the non-challenged entrants (the non bladed

entrants), what do you believe will be the result of this and do you think it

will result in a ban? Court challenges as to the " fairness " of the entry?

My personal opinion is that although shoes have been changing and improving over

time, they do not account for the springy nature of the blades, nor do they

account for the lack of energy expenditure or oxygen debt that limbs do. We

penalize many means of changing one's energy profile - like blood doping, etc.

While the entrant is fast enough and will bring a great deal of attention to the

events, I'm not sure it will be a continued feature of the games, that the

inclusion may encourage some attempts to mimic the effect of the blades by way

of devices not currently allowed or other means yet to be determined. That

athletes without blades may find themselves behind someone with what was

previously considered a disadvantage in sport and become desperate to keep

up...any way they can. Gold medals mean money and livelihood, sometimes for the

family of the winner for life in many countries. There's too much at stake...

I look forward to reading the discussion and see what really happens with this

amazing athlete and the Games themselves.

the Phantom

aka Schaefer, CMT/RMT, competing powerlifter

Denver, Colorado, USA

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