'Oscar has unfair advantage'
2008-02-20 22:32
Wilhelm de Swart
Johannesburg - Oscar Pistorius is going to have a struggle on his hands to convince international athletics authorities that his artificial limbs don't give him an unfair advantage, says a former top sprinter.
Joseph van der Linde was once of the country's top sprint competitors.
His personal best times were 10.41 for the 100m and 20.73s for the 200m.
His athletics career was cut short by a freak farming accident when his right foot was crushed by the blades of a suction machine which was sucking mealies from a huge pan into a silo.
He didn't mope for long and competed in the World Championships for disabled athletes two years ago in the Netherlands, where he got a bronze in the 100m.
Ran faster instead of slower
Pistorius used Van der Linde as an example while trying to strengthen his case in St Petersburg, Russia earlier this week.
He said Van der Linde, when he was still running, had used the same Cheetah prosthetic limbs that he now used.
Pistorius contended that Van der Linde had run a second slower in the 100m with his artificial limb.
Pistorius said: "If an artificial leg gives you an advantage, as the experts argue, then Van der Linde should have ran faster instead of slower."
Van der Linde feels Pistorius is over-simplifying matters
"You can't compare the two of us.
"I have a single amputee under the knee (Class T44). The effect is that I'm never perfectly balanced when I run and I can never reach my optimal speed.
"The calf muscles of my normal leg get tired when I run, while that's not the case with the Cheetah limb.
'Run at optimum speed'
"I also have to adjust the Cheetah limb to the height of my leg to ensure that they're equally long. However, Oscar is a double amputee below the knees (T 43).
"His advantage is that he can set his legs so that he's in perfect balance when he runs. That gives him the advantage of being able to run at optimum speed.
"Oscar also does not have calf muscles that can get tired. He can therefore complete a 400m with the same driving force he started off with.
"It means that the length of Oscar's strides can stay the same.
Van der Linde also pointed out that Pistorius could increase the length of his prosthetic limbs to take longer strides and also strengthen his upper body to take full advantage of this leverage.
'Have to look at specifications'
"What it actually boils down to is that Oscar has some advantages over normal athletes, although he also has disadvantages.
"All I can say is that thorough research is needed to determine the difference between a T43 athlete and someone who is not disabled.
"They'll have to look at the specifications to ensure everyone's on equal footing, so to speak."
- Beeld