August 01, 2008
South African Oscar Pistorius runner failed to qualify for the Olympic games by just 7/10 of a second. Pretty good -– especially for a man without legs. But his state-of-the-art prosthetics, called "Cheetah legs," have caused controversy in the world of sports: for some, they raise questions about what it means to be human. Produced by Ave Carrillo.
Cheetah Legs in Motion:
(Video courtesy of Rice University)
Oscar was born without legs or had them removed early in life (a painful choice for his parents). so what's Oscar to do; run on his "stumps"? "Cheetah legs," are Oscar's legs. It, to me, raises the question about what it means to be inhumane.
The broadcast “Cheetah Legs” discussing possible advantages accruing to runners using these prosthetics didn’t address two points:
1)Do the runners where “Cheetah Legs” when just walking around and not competing or practicing?
2)What is the view of those you interviewed on a separate report, I heard some time ago, that a runner wearing Cheetah Legs attempted to compete in both the standard Olympics and Paralympics?
It would have been informative to broadcast the Cheetah Legs story and immediately preceed or follow it with the story of a golfer who, because of some disability, got the rules changed so he could ride in a golf cart from hole to hole, rather than have to walk.
My view: Hey, this is sport—the officials can make any rule they want. Anybody who disagrees can start his own federation. The runners who were interviewed didn't have to run competitively.
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