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Today, Oskar Pistorius is mentioned not in the context of his sports achievements, but in the context of what happened in his private life. The disabled athlete is still in prison, serving a sentence for the murder of his partner. Therefore, an important controversy was faded into the background – could Pistorius, as an athlete, actually compete with able-bodied players? Not completely.
- Oscar Pistorius was born without fibulae. When he was an infant, both of his legs were amputated below the knees
- The man decided to become a professional runner. While competing at the Paralympics, he won more medals
- Ultimately, Pistorius’ lawyers managed to win his start in the Olympics alongside able-bodied players. According to the orthopaedist Dr. Urszula Zdanowicz, it was unfair
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Oscar Pistorius. From a sports pioneer to a calculated murderer
The story of Oscar Pistorius as an athlete ended with a loud, four-shot gunshot on the night of February 13-14, 2013. From that day on, his name was no longer mentioned in the context of sports competitions. Instead, they were associated with manslaughter or murder.
32-year-old model Reeva Steenkamp and Oscar Pistorius lived in Pretoria, South Africa. The night before Valentine’s Day, a woman died in the bathroom. Shots were fired at her, one of which in the chest turned out to be fatal. Pistorius told the arriving police that he was the one who pulled the trigger, but maintained that it was a tragic accident.
– She practiced yoga, I watched TV, my dentures were removed. I got a Valentine’s Day gift from Reeva. We loved each other very much. When she returned to bed, we fell asleep – he said then.
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The tragic event was to come later, when Pistorius “got scared of the burglar”.
– I woke up at night to close the balcony door. That’s when I realized Reeva was gone. I thought it was in the bathroom but the door was locked. I didn’t have my dentures on, I felt a threat. I put my dentures on, grabbed my gun, and fired in the direction of the bathroom because I thought a burglar had gotten in through the window – that was the marathon runner’s original version of events. It soon turned out to be completely untrue.
Originally, Pistorius was sentenced to five years in absolute prison for manslaughter. Under South African law, this meant that he could not serve his sentence under house arrest. Public and media pressure, as well as further evidence, eventually changed the classification of the act to murder. Six years of absolute imprisonment. Key here were the billing records that indicated Reeva Steenkamp was afraid of her partner. This, in turn, after the murder, deleted from his phone messages that could burden him. So the court decided that the story about the burglar was simply a lie.
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It was not until 2017 that the final sentence was passed – Pistorius will spend 15 years in prison. An athlete in 2023 will be able to be released if educators give a favorable opinion about him. And he does everything to make it so, reading the Bible all day long, educating his fellow prisoners and buying them food.
How did Oscar Pistorius lose his legs? He was still a baby
Before Oscar Pistorius found his way to the candlesticks due to first successes and then murders, he had a difficult beginning in his life behind him. The athlete was born on November 22, 1986 with a serious congenital defect – fibular hemimelia. It is a rare genetic disease in which the distal part of the lower or upper limb is underdeveloped. In the case of Pistorius, it was about both legs. Sagittal hemimelia currently affects 1 in 50. kids.
Oscar Pistorius could not walk with such a defect. When he was 11 months old, both limbs below the knees had to be amputated. Thanks to prostheses, young Pistorius could play sports. He played rugby when he was 12, and six years later he was already competing in marathons. Then came the Paralympics, in which the disabled athlete was second to none.
Pistorius raced with the able-bodied. “He had an advantage”
Paralympics in Athens, 2004 Oscar Pistorius wins the bronze medal in the 100 m race and the gold medal in the 200 m race. Four years later, after the competition in Beijing, he returns home with three gold discs. He ends the next Paralympics, this time in London, with two gold and one silver medal. At the same time, it also sets two Paralympic world records.
Pistorius is also the first athlete without both lower limbs to qualify for the Olympic Games. It has to race with able-bodied competitors. On the one hand – a beautiful, symbolic moment for the disabled community. On the other hand – a great controversy. The specialized prostheses used by Oscar Pistorius mean that the competition may not be fair. They work to his advantage.
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This argument is presented by the German report from 2007, which indicates that prostheses provide Pistorius with an advantage over players whose legs are fit. He must use about 25 percent. less energy than healthy runners. The IAAF athletic association agrees with this opinion, refusing Pistorius permission to participate in the competition. But that’s when the runner’s lawyers step in, and in 2008 another report comes out. This in turn proves that Pistorius is “physiologically similar and mechanically different” from able-bodied runners. This is enough for him to be allowed to start in the Olympics. Despite the growing controversy.
As we read in Science American, one of the most important points pointing to a significant inequality is the time to reposition the limb, which is the time that must pass between the forward movement of the leg and its return to the starting position. The average for a competitive male sprinter is 0,37 seconds. Among the five world record holders today, the average per 100 m is 0,34 seconds. With Pistorius, only 0,28 seconds is enough. The weight of prostheses, which are definitely lighter than the human leg, plays a huge role here. On average, it is 5,7 kg. The Pistorius prosthesis weighs 2,4 kg.
Despite all the doubts, Oscar Pistorius eventually becomes the first athlete without both legs to compete alongside able-bodied runners. Is it right? Dr. Urszula Zdanowicz, an orthopedist and traumatologist from the Carolina Medical Center, who has been involved in sports medicine for many years, has no doubts.
– In my opinion no. He had an advantage. And this despite the fact that he underwent bilateral amputation of his legs as a child. The controversy surrounding its launch continues to this day. And scientists disagree as to whether or not he should have taken off. They result not only from the time it takes to move the leg and the weight of the limb compared to the prosthesis. There are also studies showing that Pistorius uses much less oxygen than the average athlete. But, perhaps most importantly, the Kevlar legs do not get tired. Of course, not everyone agrees. For example, prof. Kram believes that, on the other hand, Kevlar legs are not capable of transmitting human forces. The debate continues. Certainly Oscar Pistorius was a unique and very dedicated athlete who did not allow his disability to get in the way of his dreams. And perhaps that was of the greatest importance.
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