The Blade Runner’s Sprint to the Olympics
Photo courtsey of www.ossur.com
This Friday July 11, 2008 Oscar “The Blade Runner” Pistorius will get his second chance at qualifying for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing at the Rome Golden Gala event. What makes this amazing is that despite being a double amputee, Pistorius has a legitimate shot at qualifying for the South African Olympic Team. Running on two Cheetah Flex-Foot blades made by Össur, Pistorius hopes to better his 46.56 second Paralympic World Record in the 400 meter sprint to compete individually or as part of the relay team.
The incredible thing is that the combination of Pistorius’ training and the technological achievements of Össur on the Cheetah, have not only leveled the playing field but has sparked intense debate over the “advantages” of having no legs. These carbon-fiber blades act like giant springs to mimic the mechanics of biological feet. The major issue is that from a purely mechanical standpoint, the Cheetah blades require 25-30% less energy to run at the same speed as with biological legs.
Please note: The Cheetah’s do not give Pistorius any extra boost or spring, he must generate all of the energy to run himself. Compared to a biological foot where a runner can use the entire leg down to their toes to create energy and momentum; the Cheetah’s actually absorb Oscar’s energy, returning only 80% of what he puts into them.
In fact the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ruled earlier this year that use of the Cheetahs would not be allowed in events governed by their rules such as the Olympics. This was appealed by Pistorius to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, where it was determined that the IAAF did not account for the numerous disadvantages of running on prostheses. For now Pistorius is eligible to compete in all IAAF sanctioned events using the Cheetah Flex-Feet.
With the huge strides that Össur has already made in prosthetic legs it will not be surprising when they actually do produce legs that enable amputees to run faster than anyone with both biological legs. They are also leaders in intelligent prosthetics such as feet and knees that react to their environments and adjust accordingly to provide the most natural feel possible. To see more of their work in this area check out their bionics web page at http://bionics.ossur.com/.
In his first qualification attempt last week, Pistorious ran the 400 meters in 47.78 seconds. On Friday, Pistorius will be shooting for the 46 second range in his 400 meter sprint, which will probably be strong enough to earn him a spot on the relay team. His final chance for the Beijing Olympics comes next week on Wednesday, July 16th. Fortunately, he has age working for him being just 21 years old, he should have more opportunities to compete in the Olympics. Hopefully the IAAF will maintain a position that allows for runners such as Pistorious to compete on prosthetics between now and then.
To see Pistorious, “the fastest man on no legs” in action with these Cheetah Flex-Feet check out the video below, it really gives a good look at how they work.
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July 10th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
You misses the point as well, or maybe you do not make yourself clear. Ossur do make the best latent prosthesis available, there is NO magic spring in them. They can NOT give Oscar more “spring”/feed back, than what he puts/puch/run into a step - IT CAN NEVER , the laws of nature dictate this.
People get confused when you not pefectly clear on this issue.
1)This blades has been on the market for more than a decade,
2)When Oscar lines up at the starting line, 70-100% of his competitors run with the same Prosthesis,
3)Oscar has NEVER run against another T43 (both legs amputated below the knee), always only against T44, differently ABLE athletes (vs disable)with one leg amputated below the knee. It is very difficult to walk with two prosthesis, running nearly impossible. The ballance, consentation and dedication that you need to apply, will only be understood by very few people. If you are one of them, please remember to empasise the huge difference to our other entusiastic followers.
4)Oscar broke the 100 & 200meter T43 world records with primative prosthesis with zip technology in them. They use to brake in full flight, sending Oscar sliding over the tartan track. Oscar lost a lot of skin in those early months, 11 weeks before the Athens Olympics, but none of his spirit, to be the FASTEST.
Admire the man for what he has and is accomplishing, respect him for the brute dedication he exhibits and allow him the competition he desirves.
Thank you for your time,
Henke.
July 10th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Henke, thanks for this valuable information. I certainly do not want to take anything away from the extremely hard work that Oscar has put in to achieve this level of competition. In fact I was so impressed with him, that I cut down my original idea for this article to focus primarily upon Oscar.
I apologize if I have put too much emphasis on the prostheses, but this blog’s main goal is to inspire inventors. Hopefully, Oscar’s example will help my readers question what is supposed to be impossible, and allow them to invent some really incredible world changing things.
I’ll be cheering for Oscar tomorrow, and hopefully in the Olympics.
July 18th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
[...] week at the Invention Pub, we started following the journey of Oscar Pistorius, the Blade Runner, and his bid to join the South African Olympic team in Beijing. In his final two qualification [...]
July 19th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
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