Why is oscar pistorius double amputee
He ran a seasonal best of The meter Olympic record is Pistorius' journey to the top can only be described as miraculous. After he underwent amputation surgery when he was 11 months old, he received his first pair of prosthetic legs at 17 months. According to his website , Pistorius took up running to bounce back from a rugby injury at the advice of his doctor when he was It's a bit counterintuitive, but Weyand argues that a runner's speed is largely determined by how long he can keep his feet on the ground, rather than in the air.
The longer a foot remains on the ground, the more time the person has to generate force that will propel him forward. More force generally means more speed. Kram argues, however, that because the Cheetahs are made of carbon fiber, and are lighter, they can't transmit nearly as much force to the ground as a human leg can, creating less forward propulsion.
So Pistorius has to push down harder than most people to get the same amount of force against the ground. Weyand counters that Pistorius simply doesn't need to push as hard to run just as fast.
Of course, other researchers have other theories about a possible advantage. Because Pistorius's Cheetah's don't tire, his lower leg stays springy throughout the entire race. For most meter runners the second half of the race is where the real battle happens. Jim Matin, a researcher at the University of Utah, says that the lower leg is what weakens and slows runners. Martin thinks that if Pistorius ran in a competitive meter race, Pistorius could set the world record.
Some of the arguing may be moot. The fact that Pistorius runs differently does not necessarily indicate an advantage, because even the most elite sprinters have their own running styles, says Jill McNitt-Gray, a researcher at the University of Southern California who wasn't involved in the Rice study. One sprinter might use his hips more than the next. Another may rely more on his arm thrust. Amputees develop ways to interact with their prosthetic that makes sense for them. In many ways, studying Pistorius is difficult.
There's only one of him, and only one good study that uses his specific physiology. February 15, — Pistorius is officially charged with premeditated murder in the death of Steenkamp. March 28, — Judge Bert Bam lifts the travel ban on Pistorius, saying he sees no reason Pistorius should not be allowed to travel for competition. The ban on drinking alcohol and avoiding his home where the shooting occurred is also lifted.
August 19, — Is indicted on a premeditated murder charge in the shooting death of Steenkamp. May 20, — The judge rules that Pistorius must undergo mental health examinations over the next month. The testing was triggered by the testimony of a psychiatrist who said that the sprinter has suffered from generalized anxiety disorder since he was an infant, stemming partly from the amputation of both of his lower legs.
June 30, — A psychiatric assessment finds that Pistorius was not mentally incapacitated when he shot Steenkamp to death. September 12, — Is found guilty of culpable homicide , the South African term for unintentionally — but unlawfully — killing a person. October 21, — Receives a five-year sentence in the shooting death of Steenkamp. August — Justice and Correctional Services Minister Michael Masutha orders a review of the June parole decision, on the grounds that the parole ruling may have been made too early.
In January , mere weeks after he began seriously training, Pistorius breezed past the Paralympic world record in the meter dash. That June, he was fitted with his first set of carbon-fiber "Flex-Foot Cheetah" blades, on which he blazed to a world-record mark in the meters at the Paralympics in September. Pistorius' relentless ambition then carried him to competitions against able-bodied runners, a quest that amazed fans but also invited scrutiny from those who wondered whether he was getting an unfair boost from his artificial extremities.
In January , following a series of tests, the International Association of Athletics Federations announced that Pistorius was indeed benefitting from his racing prostheses and banned him from all sanctioned events.
Fortunately, the ruling was soon overturned on appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which agreed that any advantages gained by runner on the lightweight blades were offset by the difficulties they presented on the starting block and curved sections of the track. The restored eligibility wasn't enough to help Pistorius meet his stated goal of qualifying for South Africa's Olympic track team, though he made a splash at the Paralympics later that summer by claiming gold medals in the , and meter races.
Over the next few years, Pistorius' international celebrity was cemented thanks to features in leading publications like Time , GQ and People , though a few behind-the-scenes incidents suggested that trouble was lurking below the surface.
A February speedboat crash, for example, may have been the result of the empty alcohol bottles reportedly found onboard. That September, the star sprinter was arrested for injuring a woman after allegedly slamming a door on her at a party. Still, the headlines that accompanied his exploits were largely inspirational.
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