quotes

“I tell kids in similar situations to never let anyone tell you who you are and what you can or cannot do…don’t let other’s get you down.” Robyn Shelton, 3rd base, Varsity softball team, no left leg.

“Pistorious unfairly rigged his Cheetahs” –American Paralympics champion Marlon Shirley who competed against and lost to Pistorious in the 2004 Paralympics

“If a racer wants to show up wearing 30 foot stilts made of Kevlar and bamboo, that’s OK” – Felix Gillette, journalist, in regards to the Paralympic committee’s failure to enforce height-adjustment rules.

“We are trying to bridge the gap between Olympics and Paralympics, between the disabled and the able-bodied” –Kevin Michael Connolly, Winter X Games silver medalist monoskier, and host of “Quest for Excellence”, a documentary that follows the lives of successful disabled artists

“[Professor] Peter Bruggemann [of the German Sports University] found that [Pistorious’] prosthetics were more efficient than the human ankle.” –the IAAF report on Oscar Pistorious’ prosthetic legs

“A bionic race would take away from the true competition. It is not my desire to give athletes a device that takes them beyond what their body can do” –Marlon Shirley

Other Arguments

Subtopic 2
Prosthetics can be perceived as a type of performance-enhancement. Pistorious’s prosthetics were proven to be more efficient than the human ankle, clearly giving him an advantage. The same way governing bodies in sports are there to protect the fairness and integrity of the game, any devices used to enhance performance should be closely examined and, if necessary, banned by these bodies. (Lance Armstrong was proven to have an advantage in cycling after his left testicle was removed)

Argument against: Like Pistorious, multiple other athletes use ‘Cheetahs” yet none of them have had the success that Oscar has had. Clearly, he must be doing something right.

Subtopic 3
In this subtopic, I will discuss unconventional ways to enhance athletic performance. Some view prosthetics as a way to make an athlete better, yet only recently have they been outlawed. Also, 'ergogenics' are ways that athletes use things like blood count to give their bodies a competitive advantage.

Subtopic 4
By allowing a ‘robotic’ man to compete against, and perhaps beat, an able-bodied athlete, the spirit of the Olympics is soiled in a way, because the Greeks believed that Man was the greatest machine under the sun. It would be breaking ancient traditions, and although old-fashioned, the Olympic committee has a duty to uphold the standings of those traditions.

Subtopic 1

On the non-Olympic level, there are numerous disabled athletes who have uncovered success on a normal playing field, against normal athletes. Most of these athletes have gained the attention of their local communities because they only have one arm or leg, and most of them are not competing above the high school varsity level.

The point is that kids can compete locally without the use of prosthetics. Most kids want to be considered ‘normal’ and refuse to wear their prosthetics during competition anyway. The spirit and nature of competition is not lost or hindered in any way, and when these athletes win a trophy, they can take pride in their work and effort, just the same as any ‘normal’ kid.

Especially since they do not employ prosthetics, these athletes deserve to compete against able-bodied athletes, since they are most definitely at a mental and physical disadvantage to those who have properly-functioning bodies.