How’s this story for a bit of a twist: a young South African athlete with prosthetic legs has been told he cannot compete in the Beijing Olympics as he would be at an – wait for it – advantage over able-bodied competitors. The 21-year old was 11 months old when his legs were amputated below the knee but only began running competitively on the carbon fibre blades four years ago. He had immediate success winning the 200m at the Athens Paralympic Games and bronze in the 100m, and sought to compete at the 2008 Olympic games.

However, last year, the international athletics’ governing body outlawed the use of any device incorporating springs, wheels “or any other element that provides the user with an advantage over another athlete not using such a device”, and as a result, Pistorius will not be allowed to run in any competitions involving able-bodied athletes. A scientific study also revealed that Pistorius, nicknamed “Blade Runner”, used 25% less energy than able-bodied runners to run at the same speed. He had this to say:

“I feel that it is my responsibility, on behalf of other disabled athletes, to stand firm. I will appeal this decision at the highest levels, while also continuing with my quest to race in the Paralympic Games and hopefully the Olympic Games.”

I’m torn on this one, to be honest. Whilst I think it’s borderline ironic that it seems able-bodied athletes are scared to compete against someone with no legs, if I was lining up for a running race (hah!) with someone who had carbon fibre blades on his feet, I would be wondering how truly fair that is, given the quoted energy output of that athlete as being far less than mine…

What do you think?