UKC

So, Oscar Pistorious got beat in the 200m final, then immediately blames the IPC and says his opponent (Alain Olivier) had an unfair advantage due to having longer blades.

Come on Oscar, have some dignity in defeat.

In reply to mountainmadness: IPC just confirmed that olivera's blades were measured and were within tolerances set by them. It was a shock to see him come back to win it from that far behind but then that's exactly what Pistorius did in his famous stall in the blocks race that he won!

In reply to mountainmadness:

should he have kept his objections to himself, til tomorrow?

what if the blades are too long, does the same hold?

why ask people how a loss has left them feeling if the only response we want to hear is the platitude they've rehearsed before the race?

In reply to mountainmadness:

Personally I do not see how he can race in both the Olympics and Paralympics. Nobody else gets that privilege.

In reply to brokenbanjo: because he qualified for both, simple.

In reply to brokenbanjo:

Only because nobody else is good enough. Sarah Storey very nearly got selected for GB's track cycling in the Olympics, and raced in the Commonwealth Games against able bodied athletes.

In reply to higherclimbingwales:

Wasn't Pistorious' point that the regulations were too lax? He said his objections were falling on deaf ears.

Obviously he had the opportunity to use longer blades himself, if he felt they were that much of an advantage.

In reply to brokenbanjo:


Not sure losing both legs before the age of 1 counts as a privilege but there
are a few athletes at the Paralympics who competed at the Plympics.

In reply to winhill:

I'm not after platitudes, I have nothing but respect for him (Oscar) and all he's done so far.

You ask me if I think he should hold his opinion until tomorrow. What difference would that make? His opinion should have been voiced before the race, maybe it was but fell upon deaf ears, I have no idea. What I do know is that he got beat on what is an accepted level playing field.

In reply to brokenbanjo:

Except Natalie Du Toit, Jason Smith has run in the Worlds and Europeans and would have run in the Olympics if he had been able to run a few hundreds of a second faster. sarah Storey was vying for a place in the Team Pursuit. There is also a Canadian middle distance woman who's name I can't remember at the moment, who has run in both. Danny Crates tried to get in the British Olympic Team (Athens I think).

So apart from them and loads of others, nobody gets the privilege.

In reply to mountainmadness:

Heard him being interviewed a few times and tbh he came across as being a bit of a knob.

A good thing, reinforces the fact that disabled people, are, erm, people. You can be an elite athlete with carbon legs, but still be a bit of a fud.

In reply to mountainmadness:

Not a particularly common ZA attribute.

In reply to mountainmadness:

Somebody counted strides for the two, Olivera put two more strides in, so his strides were actually shorter.

In reply to mountainmadness:

But everyone expects the Anodyne Losers Speech:

i) I've trained really hard
ii) I've really enjoyed it
iii) I've had tremendous support from family friends coach
iv) The crowd has been marvellous
v) I really tried my best
vi) The best man/woman/team won on the day and it wasn't to be.

Like some Scott of the Antartic stoicism.

What's wrong with the Jody Cundy school of etiquette?

He raged at the officials, hurled a water bottle to the floor, collapsed in a heap and then had to be restrained by his team mechanic as he advanced towards the commissaire who disqualified him.

As he was led away from the scene and down into the bowels of the velodrome and the crowd, he railed against the decision in stark terms.

"I fell out of the gate because the f*cking thing won't open. Yet here I am, I can't ride. Everybody else gets the f*cking re-ride," he said, as a British official tried to calm him down and his girlfriend raced to his side.

"Do you know what it's like? Four years of my life. I'll never get the chance to do it. In front of a 6,000 home crowd, I'll never get this opportunity ever, ever again. Never. What am I supposed to do?"

How does it feel?

Like this:

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/8/31/1346439...

In reply to mountainmadness:

Looked to me like Pistorous switched off in the last 20m thinking he'd won.

In reply to The New NickB:

Pistorious has a PB better than the winning time I think.

In reply to mountainmadness:
Pistorious has fought a long battle with the IOC to prove that his blades do not give him an advantage over able bodied athletes. Now I don't know whether this is the case, but suppose his blades met the IOC requirements and his opponents didn't, but were acceptable for the Paralympics. If (and it's a big if) that were the case, you could understand his comments.

Meanwhile, why isn't wheelchair racing a full Olympic sport - open to everybody regardless of (dis)ability. Likewise hand-cycling. And even tandem racing. I'm all for the Paralympics, but more integration into the regular Olympics would be great.

In reply to ebygomm:

Erm, yesterday I believe, as he took the world record.

In reply to John Rushby:

Wot he said! ^^^^^^^

In reply to ebygomm:

Yes, the world record he ran in the heats.

In reply to winhill:

I think that you highlight a very different case, surely the two examples aren't related in any way.

In reply to zebidee:

having re-watched the last part of the race, I think this might be the case and now he has to eat his words, follow it through or retract his statement and admit defeat though I suspect that will be a long time coming!

In reply to mountainmadness:

All sport is arbitrary. Unfortunately the Paralympics strikes me as particularly so.

In reply to NewNickB : Marla Runyan was american rather than Canadian, but legally blind. I remember her running in the 1500m at the Olympics but don't know if she went to the paralympics. I've seen this statement that O.P. was the first disabled athlete to compete at x level, and it bugs me as it ignores her. I don't think Murray Halberg would qualify for the paralympics.

Pistorius has reopened the old arguments again I suppose. They might be the correct lengh, but are weights, stiffness/rebound all standardised?

In reply to Chris the Tall:

That's how it was reported in the Telegraph. Pistorius' blades need to conform to IAAF regulations so he can compete in able bodied events so he has stricter rules on blade length than paralympic only competitors.

Maybe they should remove design restrictions on the blades and see just how fast they can go. There's a good chance it would end up being faster than able-bodied races.

In reply to mountainmadness:

This article seems to prove that Pistorious was talking out of his bum.

http://www.sportsscientists.com/2012/09/oscar-pistorius-counting-strides-as...

In reply to mountainmadness:

The more I hear about this guy the more I think he's a complete toss pot. Anyone remember the rant he had on the radio then stormed off after being asked (quite legitimately) about his court cases to be allowed in to the able-bodied olympics?

In reply to andy:
And a court case or two!

In reply to winhill:

If you want platitudes, check out the Matt Walker interview after he got bronze.

The guy is stunningly amazing!

In reply to mountainmadness: the best/fastest man won.seems o.p thought he was invinsable.the more fuss he makes the worse off he will be at the end of this.

In reply to Chris the Tall:

If you're able bodied you have an inherent advantage in that you can use your core muscles and lower limbs for additional leverage to generate more power to your upper body. IIRC there was some throbber a few years back who was able bodied but wanted to be allowed to race disabled people in wheelchairs.(Presumably he was shit at other sports and reckoned he was in with a chance, which I doubt). If people really feel the need to zoom about in wheelchairs I suggest they do it properly and severe their spinal cord at an appropriate point.

In reply to Chris the Tall:

Apart from anything else, there are plenty of mainstream sports (eg squash) that aren't included in the Olympics. If there's space for anything else (ideally by removing crap like beach volleyball and horse dancing) then these should take priority IMO.