LONDON — The Olympic Stadium filled Saturday morning and applause rose as Oscar Pistorius of South Africa lined up for the first round of the 400 meters. He did something he rarely does in the starting blocks. He smiled.
At the sound of the starter’s pistol, Pistorius, known as Blade Runner, became the first double amputee runner to compete in the Games. He finished second in his heat in 45.44 seconds, advancing to Sunday’s semifinals. He reached the finish line after six years of yearning to achieve a qualifying time and five years of scientific and legal debate about whether his prosthetic legs gave him an unfair advantage over sprinters using their natural legs.
“A loser isn’t the person that gets involved and comes last, but it’s the person that doesn’t get involved in the first place,” Pistorius, who is 25, said, recounting a familiar admonishment by mother, Sheila, who died when he was 15. “It’s a mentality we’ve always had. When you start something you do it properly. The passion you start something with, you finish it off with.”
Pistorius was born without fibulas in his lower legs. When he was 11 months old, both of his legs were amputated below the knee. He began running after sustaining an injury playing rugby. Competing on carbon-fiber devices called Cheetahs, he began to blur the distinction between what is considered abled and disabled.
In March 2007, Pistorius finished second in the 400 at the South African national championships. But by January 2008, track and field’s world governing body, known as the I.A.A.F., ruled Pistorius ineligible.
The I.A.A.F. said the carbon-fiber blades violated its ban against springs or wheels that gave an athlete a competitive edge over those not using such devices. The prosthetic legs allowed Pistorius to run as fast as elite sprinters while consuming less energy, the governing body said.
In May 2008, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which mediates international disputes, struck down the I.A.A.F. ban and said the prosthetic legs gave Pistorius no real advantage. Still, it was too late to compete at the Beijing Olympics.
The scientific debate has continued about where to draw the line between fair play and the right to compete. A 2009 study published in The Journal of Applied Physiology said that Pistorius could take his strides more rapidly and with more power than a sprinter on biological legs.
Last year, Pistorius ran a qualifying time of 45.07 for these Games. Still, some resistance remains. Michael Johnson, the 400 world-record holder at 43.18 seconds and a two-time Olympic champion, now retired, said recently that “because we don’t know for sure whether he gets an advantage from the prosthetics, it is unfair to the able-bodied competitors.”
But quarter milers competing here welcomed Pistorius on Saturday, saying they found his determination to be inspiring.
“If something like that happens to you and you lose both legs, some people would give up," said Bryshon Nellum of the United States, who was shot in the legs in a case of mistaken identity in 2008 while attending the University of Southern California. "For him to continue to run, it’s unbelievable. It’s amazing.”
Kirani James, the reigning world champion from Granada, said of Pistorius, “He created history. I have a lot of respect for the guy. It takes a lot of courage, a lot of confidence, to do what he does.”
Pistorius is not considered a medal candidate in the open 400, though he will also run the 4x400-meter relay, at which he won a silver medal for South Africa at the 2011 world track and field championships. Asked if Pistorius would be eagerly embraced if he ran as fast as the world’s best quarter milers, James said, “That’s another story.”
Inspired largely by Pistorius, the number of amputee runners has grown from about 100 worldwide a decade ago to several hundred beginning each year in the United States alone, said Robert Gailey, a professor of physical therapy at the University of Miami (Fla.) School of Medicine, who helped Pistorius gain the right to compete.
“His ability to compete is a testament to what a great athlete he is, not because of any technological advantage,” Gailey said in a telephone interview. “Literally, he has a disadvantage throughout much of the race, but he’s been able to overcome it. He’s an elite athlete. He just happens not to have feet.”
While calf muscles generate about 250 percent energy return with each strike of the track, propelling a runner forward, Pistorius’s carbon-fiber blades generate only 80 percent return, Gailey said.
Given that Pistorius has no feet or calves, he must generate his power with his hips, working harder than able-bodied athletes who use their ankles, calves and hips, Gailey said.
And because the blades are narrow and Pistorius essentially runs on his tip toes, he pops straight up out of the blocks instead of driving forward in a low, aerodynamic position for the first 30 or 35 meters, becoming more susceptible to wind resistance, Gailey said.
Pistorius also must work harder against centrifugal force in the curves than runners with biological feet, and his arms and legs tend to begin flailing more in the homestretch than able-bodied runners, costing him valuable time, Gailey said. His stride is not longer than other runners, as many presume, Gailey said.
“It’s not like he’s bouncing high with a giant spring,” Gailey said. The blades “basically allow him to roll over the foot and get a little bounce. The human foot operates like a spring and his feet operate like a spring. But the human foot produces more power than the blades do.”
At least six disabled athletes have now competed in the Summer Olympics: George Eyser, an American, won a gold medal in gymnastics while competing on a wooden leg at the 1904 Games in St. Louis; Neroli Fairhall, a paraplegic from New Zealand, competed in archery in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles; Marla Runyan, a legally blind runner from the United States, competed in the 1,500 meters at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney; Natalie du Toit of South Africa, who lost her left leg below the knee after being hit by a car, competed in open water swimming at the 2008 Beijing Games; and Natalia Partyka of Poland, who was born without a lower right arm, competed in table tennis here in London.
“It’s one thing being here and it’s another thing performing when you’re here,” Pistorius said Saturday. “For me, that’s a task I take seriously. I want to represent my country well.”
At the sound of the starter’s pistol, Pistorius, known as Blade Runner, became the first double amputee runner to compete in the Games. He finished second in his heat in 45.44 seconds, advancing to Sunday’s semifinals. He reached the finish line after six years of yearning to achieve a qualifying time and five years of scientific and legal debate about whether his prosthetic legs gave him an unfair advantage over sprinters using their natural legs.
“A loser isn’t the person that gets involved and comes last, but it’s the person that doesn’t get involved in the first place,” Pistorius, who is 25, said, recounting a familiar admonishment by mother, Sheila, who died when he was 15. “It’s a mentality we’ve always had. When you start something you do it properly. The passion you start something with, you finish it off with.”
Pistorius was born without fibulas in his lower legs. When he was 11 months old, both of his legs were amputated below the knee. He began running after sustaining an injury playing rugby. Competing on carbon-fiber devices called Cheetahs, he began to blur the distinction between what is considered abled and disabled.
In March 2007, Pistorius finished second in the 400 at the South African national championships. But by January 2008, track and field’s world governing body, known as the I.A.A.F., ruled Pistorius ineligible.
The I.A.A.F. said the carbon-fiber blades violated its ban against springs or wheels that gave an athlete a competitive edge over those not using such devices. The prosthetic legs allowed Pistorius to run as fast as elite sprinters while consuming less energy, the governing body said.
In May 2008, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which mediates international disputes, struck down the I.A.A.F. ban and said the prosthetic legs gave Pistorius no real advantage. Still, it was too late to compete at the Beijing Olympics.
The scientific debate has continued about where to draw the line between fair play and the right to compete. A 2009 study published in The Journal of Applied Physiology said that Pistorius could take his strides more rapidly and with more power than a sprinter on biological legs.
Last year, Pistorius ran a qualifying time of 45.07 for these Games. Still, some resistance remains. Michael Johnson, the 400 world-record holder at 43.18 seconds and a two-time Olympic champion, now retired, said recently that “because we don’t know for sure whether he gets an advantage from the prosthetics, it is unfair to the able-bodied competitors.”
But quarter milers competing here welcomed Pistorius on Saturday, saying they found his determination to be inspiring.
“If something like that happens to you and you lose both legs, some people would give up," said Bryshon Nellum of the United States, who was shot in the legs in a case of mistaken identity in 2008 while attending the University of Southern California. "For him to continue to run, it’s unbelievable. It’s amazing.”
Kirani James, the reigning world champion from Granada, said of Pistorius, “He created history. I have a lot of respect for the guy. It takes a lot of courage, a lot of confidence, to do what he does.”
Pistorius is not considered a medal candidate in the open 400, though he will also run the 4x400-meter relay, at which he won a silver medal for South Africa at the 2011 world track and field championships. Asked if Pistorius would be eagerly embraced if he ran as fast as the world’s best quarter milers, James said, “That’s another story.”
Inspired largely by Pistorius, the number of amputee runners has grown from about 100 worldwide a decade ago to several hundred beginning each year in the United States alone, said Robert Gailey, a professor of physical therapy at the University of Miami (Fla.) School of Medicine, who helped Pistorius gain the right to compete.
“His ability to compete is a testament to what a great athlete he is, not because of any technological advantage,” Gailey said in a telephone interview. “Literally, he has a disadvantage throughout much of the race, but he’s been able to overcome it. He’s an elite athlete. He just happens not to have feet.”
While calf muscles generate about 250 percent energy return with each strike of the track, propelling a runner forward, Pistorius’s carbon-fiber blades generate only 80 percent return, Gailey said.
Given that Pistorius has no feet or calves, he must generate his power with his hips, working harder than able-bodied athletes who use their ankles, calves and hips, Gailey said.
And because the blades are narrow and Pistorius essentially runs on his tip toes, he pops straight up out of the blocks instead of driving forward in a low, aerodynamic position for the first 30 or 35 meters, becoming more susceptible to wind resistance, Gailey said.
Pistorius also must work harder against centrifugal force in the curves than runners with biological feet, and his arms and legs tend to begin flailing more in the homestretch than able-bodied runners, costing him valuable time, Gailey said. His stride is not longer than other runners, as many presume, Gailey said.
“It’s not like he’s bouncing high with a giant spring,” Gailey said. The blades “basically allow him to roll over the foot and get a little bounce. The human foot operates like a spring and his feet operate like a spring. But the human foot produces more power than the blades do.”
At least six disabled athletes have now competed in the Summer Olympics: George Eyser, an American, won a gold medal in gymnastics while competing on a wooden leg at the 1904 Games in St. Louis; Neroli Fairhall, a paraplegic from New Zealand, competed in archery in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles; Marla Runyan, a legally blind runner from the United States, competed in the 1,500 meters at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney; Natalie du Toit of South Africa, who lost her left leg below the knee after being hit by a car, competed in open water swimming at the 2008 Beijing Games; and Natalia Partyka of Poland, who was born without a lower right arm, competed in table tennis here in London.
“It’s one thing being here and it’s another thing performing when you’re here,” Pistorius said Saturday. “For me, that’s a task I take seriously. I want to represent my country well.”