The world was in shock. Oscar Pistorius–the Blade Runner–lost the Paralympic T44 200m final at London’s Olympic Stadium.
In the finishing straight 20-year-old Alan Oliveira of Brazil came from behind and nudged across the finish line before the famous South African, who had broken the world record the night before.
Strolling up to the television cameras after the race, Pistorius had a wry smile on his face. He then jumped to a diatribe about the issue with artificial limbs in these games: a topic many had recently argued over, with regards to Pistorius competing with able-bodied athletes.
Fresh from competition, Pistorius said: “We are not running in a fair race here. I don’t know how you can come back, watching the replay, from eight metres behind on the 100 to win. It’s absolutely ridiculous.”
What he was taking issue with is the height of competitors. Longer prosthetics mean a longer stride pattern and faster times. The South African runner was suggesting that some athletes, like Oliveira, had visibly increased in height recently, and that this made the race unfair. Pistorius himself has spoken in the past about how he could increase his own height, were he not enjoying running his own blades.
Of course, Pistorius could not possibly look anything other than a sore loser at this stage. Although it was stated that the South African team had raised issues of athlete’s potential height and the length of blades below the knee as much as six weeks ago, the competition was run in strict adherence to the International Paralympic Committee’s rules. The rules may need changed, but Oliveira did nothing wrong.
After having time to think about it, Pistorius, his coaches and his support staff issued a statement today. In Pistorius’ statement he said: “I accept that raising these concerns immediately as I stepped off the track was wrong. I am a proud Paralympian and believe in the fairness of sport. I am happy to work with the IPC, who obviously share these aims.”
In return, the IPC today stated their position on the height of prosthetics. “When these formulas were developed they were presented to athletes, coaches and feedback collected. We got the notice that it was the best system in place that we could go with to the comfort and satisfaction of everyone involved.”
They are prepared to talk with the famous Oscar Pistorius about his concerns, but only once the pressure of the Paralympic Games have passed.
