http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/other/articles/2007/05/15/an_amputee_sprinter_is_he_disabled_or_too_abled/

An Amputee sprinter from South Africa who runs on two carbon fiber prosthetic legs wants to compete in the Olympics. Oscar Pistorious had his legs amputated as an infant, and was fitted with prosthetic lower limbs. Now he is a college athlete. His times are close to qualifying in several sprint events, and he would otherwise be eligible to compete in the relay events.

The question is, should athletes with prosthetic limbs be allowed to compete?Several previous athletes have competed in the Olympics with disabilities, including a blind runner, and a gymnast with a wooden leg. In those cases there was no doubt that the handicap was indeed a handicap. There is some question about whether this is true in this case.

Let him compete. He's a sprinter with no legs...how can that be advantageous?

Amazing, absolutely amazing. I am incredibly impressed by him, sadly though his prosthetics should disqualify him. We wouldn't allow an able bodied person to be eligible if they amputated their arms or legs to give them a boost (I doubt that is that case, but nevertheless it applies).

And I thought I was good at the sprints. He killed my 400 time by almost 3 seconds, and I've run track for 8 years!!

Yeah, I hate to say it but those legs could be an advantage more than a hindrance in my opinion.

I have seen a show some time back showing the engineering on the prothetics designed for running. They are spring loaded at the foot area. He would have an unfair advantage in my opinion.

I am of two minds on this. On the one hand, his prosthetics could be an advantage, and that would be unfair to mthe other athletes. On the other hand, he really didn;t have a choice in having his legs amputated. It isn't fair to him either. I don't think there is a fair solution to this one.