Monday, July 16, 2007

No legged sprinter disqualified

Double-amputee Oscar Pistorius' much-anticipated debut against elite able-bodied competition fizzled Sunday when he placed seventh in the 400 meters in heavy rain and then was disqualified. The only guy he placed ahead of fell at the start and didn't finish the race. Pistorius runs with carbon fiber blades for his lower legs, finished in 47.65 seconds, well behind Angelo Taylor's winning time of 45.25 at the British Grand Prix meet. Pistorius was called for running out of his lane. After the race, Pistorius attacked the IAAF for making "derogatory" comments about the Paralympics. One official was reported to have opposed Pistorius' involvement in able-bodied races on the grounds that it could pave the way for athletes to compete wearing jet-packs on their backs.

If they are going to start relaxing the rules as to who can compete in able-bodied races, I can't wait to see Flo-Jo's triumphant return. Only instead of seeing her sprint the 100 metres in under 11 seconds, her decomposing carcass would idle in the starting blocks.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Man, we have guys that make MILLIONS of dollars doing steroids and all kinds of other shit out there and here we have a guy who makes NO money with NO legs getting disqualified? Something just isn't right.