Healthy Debate

In Motor Development, we are discussing how different constraints, such as individual, environmental, and task interact to influence movement and the development of movement. An interesting case to examine is that of Oscar Pistrorius. If you are not familiar with Pistrorius, he is a double leg amputee from South Africa that nearly qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He has shattered all Para-Olympic sprinting records. There was much debate, and still is, in the track world and the academic world about whether Pistorius should be allowed to compete against able bodied competitors. There are many that claim he has an unfair advantage due to the prosthetic legs, and others that claim he does not have an advantage and should be allowed to compete. This article examines both sides of the issue. Without going into too much detail, one of the arguments against Pistorius is that his prosthetic legs are less massive than the legs of able bodied competitors. One of the key determinants of running speed is stride frequency, or how fast the runner can place his or her foot on the ground, exert force, and swing the leg back through and touch the ground again. A less massive leg would require less force to accelerate than a more massive leg, which would increase stride frequency. One of the arguments for Pistorius is that the prosthetic legs put him a major disadvantage at the start of the race. As you can see in this video (Pistorius is in lane 5), he loses considerable ground at the beginning of the race because the design of his prosthetic legs cause him to stand up quickly, which results in more vertical force than horizontal force. As you can see, there are arguments on both sides of the coin. In this instance, there probably is not a right or wrong answer, but from a biomechanical and developmental perspective, it is good to debate.