Science

Two Legs Good, Two Prostheses Bad?

South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius runs 100 meters in 10.91 seconds. At the South African national championships in March, he placed second in the 400 meter dash, making him a candidate for next year’s Olympics. But there’s a catch: both his legs are amputated beneath the knees. Oscar runs on a pair of prosthetic legs, […]

Oscar
South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius runs 100 meters in 10.91 seconds. At the South African national championships in March, he placed second in the 400 meter dash, making him a candidate for next year's Olympics. But there's a catch: both his legs are amputated beneath the knees. Oscar runs on a pair of prosthetic legs, and international track officials want him barred from the competition.

... Pistorius is also a searing talent who has begun erasing the lines between abled and disabled, raising philosophical questions: What should an athlete look like? Where should limits be placed on technology to balance fair play with the right to compete? Would the nature of sport be altered if athletes using artificial limbs could run faster or jump higher than the best athletes using their natural limbs?

Previous Wired coverage here and here, and an account of the latest in ankle prosthetics here.

An Amputee Sprinter: Is He Disabled or Too-Abled? [New York Times]