'Blade Runner's' artificial legs controversial at Olympics

At first, double-amputee Oscar Pistorius was running on the Paralympic circuit using his high-tech running blades. Now that he's won an international court battle, he can run against able-bodied athletes at the London Olympic games. Mark Phillips reports.

[Lu_R]

You know I don't mind people asking questions like "can those prothetic actually make him faster" but making it sound like he's cheating is just ridiculous!

[Growing_AppleSauce]

I love how people are throwing a fit about how fast a handicapped guy can run

[GhostRider-hyzt]

If the guy is lighter that’s biological. He can’t control it, that’s a physical advantage which is kinda what sports are about.

[hnusak_lepak]

Dont worry about my legs getting tired, i made sure that would never happened again.
- octane

[claww]

"They say death catches up to everyone...hehe he can certainly try"
-octane 2k19

[AllThingsRickita]

Thanks Katt Willams for telling me about this

[atryan]

That's it. I'm chopping of my legs now.

[joebro]

little did he know, that was the least of his problems...

[troycronin]

I am also a below knee double amputee and i run for my high school team. I work harder than everyone else and improve a lot, but i have not beaten any biological leged athlete yet and i know their is no way that blades give an advantage. A good way to test this would be to look at runners times of people before they lost their legs and after. Alsoe  only one amputee has made it to the olympics so far out of millions, no one has even come close. so when the scientists lose their legs and can experience running in blades then they can talk.

[shaunbang]

This guy had such a simple task to stay successful and wealthy and he ruined it by being a murderer smh

[ratedpending]

this is, of course, the biggest controvery of Pistorius' career

[TheStarcraftJACKAL]

This is the kind of argument that made Deus Ex HR.

[MarkBaland]

If other runners complain that this man's artificial legs give him an unfair advantage, they should get their legs removed and get a pair of blades...

[blue_jelly]

Ngl these look (and are) cool as hell
Better than boring biological legs

[dei]

Its because he runs tons lighter than someone with legs giving an extreme advantage, almost unfair, but he may not have the best leg support to go his fastest with the running legs. If the other runner with natural legs want to beat him they just have to train to be faster.

update 3/2021 : not being ageist, but my comments at 16 resurfacing 😭 anywho i see it can be a disadvantage too, i realize it all depends on how the material and manufacturing is, yet i don’t believe it is made lighter. seems like a fair race. with or without able bodied legs, it’s all in the physical prowess. you don’t just need legs to run fast.

[truthonlyauthority]

I applaud Oscar Pistorious' tenacity. Let him run! He is an inspiration, truly.

[watchmyshoes]

If they're that worried about him having a competitive advantage they're always free to chop their legs off and even out the playing field!

[BoBnfishy]

I think it comes down to this: would it be possible to create legs that give you an unfair advantage? The answer to that is definitely yes. So the follow-up would be this: are the legs that he uses giving him an unfair advantage? I would also say yes.

[Veela]

I look at this two ways when you run your power comes from your calves, and he still has his calves. But on the other hand his robotic lower legs reduce the impact from running so he'll be able to run longer without getting tired.

I think he would weigh about the same give or take a few pounds because it's not like we're out here making prosthetics out of space alley.

[triple-gqmn]

If you want to say he weighs less because he is an amputee and therefore can't compete, I feel you also need to say everyone should be put into weight brackets for their races.