The Curious Case of Oscar Pistorius: Time Runs Out. Oscar to Walk Free - Page 9 - Sporting Events and Fantasy Sports

If he decides to compete in Taekwondo it would easily break all ratings records when he decapitates his opponent with them sharp blades.

I'm fine with him competing, if and only if they embed his lane with flint shavings.

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07-05-2012 , 02:02 PM

#202

Empire Man

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Quote:

Originally Posted by MicroBob

There is some fictitious article floating around about how he broke the world record in the 800 meter when he was 22. But it's not referenced among his times on wiki and the original article says it is fiction. Not really sure what exactly is going on with that.

If he did compete in such events wouldn't he have a good chance of shattering the records? His starts are terrible and after that he just surges.

you finally answered this yourself but just to confirm, the 400m and the 1500m are essentially different sports and even though this guy's flubber feet give him an a mechanical advantage it still wouldn't be enough to make him be world class at endurance stuff.

Someone linked the four-part SoS articles a long time ago but if anyone still thinks he doesn't have an advantage or wants to smarten up their trolling then you might want to browse at least one of them:

http://www.sportsscientists.com/2011...pistorius.html

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07-05-2012 , 02:13 PM

#203

mmbt0ne

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Velocity

He is cheating. The blades give him an advantage over able bodied runners, and even if the didn't, they woudl still give him an advantage over everyone's natural bodies. Who gives a **** that even with his cheating he isn't faster than the world's best. He's cheating and needs to stay the **** away from the Olympics. The Olympics Track races are about who's body is best adapted to run a certain distance, and by not having legs, he ****ing loses at that. Tough ****, but if he get's to use blades, I should get to use blades to be 8.5 feet tall and run a 35 second 400 meters.

This hasn't been the case since people stopped competing naked.

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07-05-2012 , 02:20 PM

#204

MicroBob

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God, looking at the numbers and the studies is so tilting. It's obvious without the numbers. But a thorough look at his splits, etc make it even moreso.

But really, there should be no need to try to figure out scientifically if it is really an advantage or not. The answer is simply, "no, you can't run in the Olympics with large metal-springy type things. Sorry."

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07-05-2012 , 02:50 PM

#205

madlondoner

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He has no damn legs and yet according to you lot this is more advantageous than normal legs despite the obvious problems. This is despite his times being just about good enough to be in it. Like wtf? It's not like he's gonna win. I'm sure the fastest guys are pissed off that some legless athlete who has trained insanely hard is competing in the Olympics. Get a grip.

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07-05-2012 , 03:01 PM

#206

kidcolin

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the amount of **** humans are willing to pay for or bend their mind for all in the name of feeling good about themselves is pretty astounding.

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07-05-2012 , 03:17 PM

#207

loK2thabrain

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Quote:

Originally Posted by madlondoner

welp, im convinced. oh wait, no im not, because you didn't give a single reason he should be allowed to compete.

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07-05-2012 , 04:12 PM

#208

gusmahler

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He finished last in his heat in the 2011 World Championships.

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07-05-2012 , 04:54 PM

#209

madlondoner

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Yeah he has little to no chance of a medal. The 400m wears him out and it takes him a while to recover.

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07-05-2012 , 06:44 PM

#210

dkgojackets

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yeah its almost like he is not an elite runner who has no business being in the olympics

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07-05-2012 , 06:56 PM

#211

GusJohnsonGOAT

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Quote:

Originally Posted by madlondoner

Yeah he has little to no chance of a medal. The 400m wears him out and it takes him a while to recover.

Yeah, I don't like this reasoning at all. It's being completely results oriented. Basically it's be decided "well, he doesn't have an advantage with these legs, so he is good to run."

So what happens to future participants that want to run like this? What if he was beating out other runners? It also takes away a spot from someone else who could be competing.

It's a nice story, but being sentimental is almost never the correct decision for sports.

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07-05-2012 , 07:10 PM

#212

gusmahler

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He will also be competing in the Paralympic games this year.

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07-05-2012 , 07:21 PM

#213

vhawk01

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Originally Posted by madlondoner

They did tests and they decided any advantage he may receive from the blades themselves propelling forward and the lack of having massive energy loss on the lower leg towards the end of the race was countered by all that energy having to be produced by the top leg and that he can't have a fast start.

Yes, it is EXACTLY equal. Somehow. Miraculously. Whew, convenient!

The fact that he is able to compete on an Olympic level is cut and dried proof that either these are a significant advantage and should be banned, or Pistorious is the greatest runner that the world has ever seen by a large margin.

The hypothesis that he is exactly a world-class runner (no better, no worse) and the blades are exactly neutral is basically absurd beyond considering.

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07-05-2012 , 07:25 PM

#214

vhawk01

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Originally Posted by madlondoner

If I ran on those things, my times would be far, far WORSE than Olympic qualifying times. Is that proof that they are really terrible and are actually a hindrance to running?

Or proof that I am not a world-class runner?

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07-05-2012 , 07:42 PM

#215

Hungry Hippo

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Quote:

Originally Posted by MicroBob

That's possible. But I think it's pretty damn obvious at the 100m too since his starts are total ass and then he's in hyper-drive at the end.

Lots of 100, 200 and 400 runners don't go for 800 and 1500. Just like lots of 800 and 1500 runners don't do 100 and 200. Different type of running/endurance, etc. So it could simply be that too.

400 and 800 are very close. The old and slow 400 runners end up running the 800. The 1500 is completely out of range for 400 runners though.

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07-05-2012 , 08:31 PM

#216

Sly Caveat

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It would be awesome if he was sandbagging and barely made it to the finals in his event and then beat the world record by 10 seconds. It's totally ridiculous that he's allowed to compete.

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07-05-2012 , 08:35 PM

#217

Shark Sandwich

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This whole thing feels like a Rick Reilly column waiting to happen

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07-05-2012 , 08:38 PM

#218

Melkerson

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Quote:

Originally Posted by GusJohnsonGOAT

+1. Yeah, relying on his times and saying, "well he's not fast enough, so he can compete" is almost the worst possible justification for allowing him to compete.

The problem is what he is doing, i.e., hopping around on those carbon blades is not running. It looks similar, and for someone with no legs it is the closest analog that he can manage. But this is a running competition, and he's doing something else.

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07-05-2012 , 09:01 PM

#219

ShimmyBasis

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Etats360

Ok, I'll play Assani here. How about the argument that

2) The Olympics aren't just about being fair. It's also about showing the world how far determination can go. Not letting Pistorius race would be sending a terrible message not only to disabled people, but to anyone who views athletics as a proxy for inspiration.

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07-05-2012 , 09:02 PM

#220

natediggity

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he's not gonna win so honestly, who cares?

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07-05-2012 , 09:09 PM

#221

Phildo

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says a lot more about how far technology can go than how far determination can go.

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07-05-2012 , 09:11 PM

#222

ShimmyBasis

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The average joe watching him run isn't gonna be thinking "wow, what a marvel of engineering!"

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07-05-2012 , 09:15 PM

#223

TomCollins

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I'm waiting for a guy who is a Special Olympics champ to get into the Olympics. Would his helmet be allowed?

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07-05-2012 , 09:41 PM

#224

TJay

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This is the least creative Onion article I've ever read

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07-05-2012 , 09:42 PM

#225

Melkerson

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Quote:

Originally Posted by natediggity

he's not gonna win so honestly, who cares?

Because the next Pistorius or the one after that will.

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