It's not about the Feet, but Feat

Come July 27th, the London Olympic Games will create history. Records will be broken and new records will be made, but amidst all these record making and breaking events, there’ll be a couple of events, I suppose, every sports fan would be waiting for – The 400 meters race (men) and the 4×400 meters relay (men).

Reason?

Oscar Pisorious, a double amputee from South Africa also known as ‘Blade Runner’. He runs on carbon fiber prosthetic running blades, which looks like an upside-down ‘question mark’. Oscar had both his legs amputated when he was just 11 months old because of a congenital disorder. He stands at only 5ft 2 inches as his legs were amputated between his knees and ankles even before he could start walking.

Born and brought up in Johannesburg, South Africa, Oscar didn’t have a very happy childhood. His parents parted ways when he was only 6 years old and his mother, whom he was really close to, died when he was just 15. Even when he grew up and took athletics as his profession, he didn’t have much luck and struggled to make it to the 2012 London Olympics. Months before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he was banned by the IAAF as they were of the views that using complex biomechanical formulas and the prosthetic legs were energy saving and gave him an unequal advantage over his fully limbed opponents. Later, he made an appeal against the IAAF and, with the support of CAS, won it and was given green signal to compete in the 400 meters race (men) at the 2008 Beijing Olympics but unfortunately, failed to qualify. Although, in the Paralympics, he created world record by winning the 100, 200 and 400 meters setting a record time.

Just the other night, I had an argument with a friend of mine when I said that Oscar Pistorius is going to be ‘The Athlete’ of the 2012 Olympics, what an inspiration he’ll be and is for thousands.

There are many people, including current world record holder in 400 meters race (men), who are of the views that Oscar holds an unfair advantage, but they don’t see the pain he has to go through for every step he leaps and his fighting spirit that keeps him going. All we can do is wait and watch what his fellow competitors do with both their natural legs and whether they can defeat the man who runs without the choice of having his own in the natural form.

On his official website, he quoted that, “’I’d like to show people that if you put the hard work in and you believe in yourself, then you can do whatever you want to. I still find it strange, I suppose, when I say to someone – ‘Can you just pass me my leg?’
I understand that how some people might think differently, but I hope that in London, their perception opens up.”

This year, along with participating in the Olympics, he’ll be defending his 100, 200 and 400 meters titles in the Paralympics.

“The tragedy of life does not lie in not reaching your goals;

The tragedy of life lies in not having a goal to reach for.

It is not a disgrace not to reach for the stars;

But it is a disgrace not to have stars to reach for.”

- Benjamin Mays

P.S. – Those who can, they do. Those who can’t, they criticize. Stop criticizing others, please! Remember, no critic has ever changed the world.