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Man running on prosthetics wins Olympic heat
Surely the "carbon fiber blades" weigh less than two human legs attached to feet?
Huh? What does THIS mean? They're not "running the same times" because they don't have the same advantage. Duh!
We're living in an era of POLITICAL CORRECTNESS run amok. Next we'll see legless swimmers with giant flipper prostheses attached to their stumps. Seriously, where does it end?
I never have a problem with paraplegics competing in marathons with wheelchairs. But they compete against other paraplegics... their times, which are always much lower than runners' times, are not considered in overall scores. Now so everyone can "feel good" about inclusiveness, we have a contestant in the Olympics qualifying with the use of clearly artificial aids.
What happens when such a contestant wins a gold medal? Knowing how competitive athletes are, are we going to see athletes having their limbs removed so as to attach artificial enhancements in order to win? Don't laugh... I bet the Chinese Olympic officials are already considering it.
South Africa's Oscar Pistorius made history on Saturday when he became the first double amputee to compete in an athletics event at the Olympics.
The 25-year-old qualified for the semi-finals of the 400 metres by running a season's best of 45.44 seconds in finishing second.
Pistorius, who had both legs amputated below the knee before he was aged one, because of a congenital condition, runs on carbon fibre blades.
Surely the "carbon fiber blades" weigh less than two human legs attached to feet?
Pistorius said exhaustive tests had proved that running on blades gave him no advantage.
"If I had to listen to the five percent of negativity, I wouldn't be here," he said. "If I have such an advantage, why isn't everybody else running the same times?"
Huh? What does THIS mean? They're not "running the same times" because they don't have the same advantage. Duh!
We're living in an era of POLITICAL CORRECTNESS run amok. Next we'll see legless swimmers with giant flipper prostheses attached to their stumps. Seriously, where does it end?
I never have a problem with paraplegics competing in marathons with wheelchairs. But they compete against other paraplegics... their times, which are always much lower than runners' times, are not considered in overall scores. Now so everyone can "feel good" about inclusiveness, we have a contestant in the Olympics qualifying with the use of clearly artificial aids.
What happens when such a contestant wins a gold medal? Knowing how competitive athletes are, are we going to see athletes having their limbs removed so as to attach artificial enhancements in order to win? Don't laugh... I bet the Chinese Olympic officials are already considering it.
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