[tt] NYT: An Amputee Sprinter: Is He Disabled or Too-Abled?

[Premise Checker]

These matters will come up more and more as technology improves. The 
solution is particularism: let each sports body make its own decision, 
and let there be different competitions with different rules. That 
said, I favor in sports what I do in politics, that the larger the 
body the more restrictive the requirements for passing laws and rules. 
In politics, a simple majority at the country level, 2/3 at the state 
level, and 5/6 at the national level. Since Americans move every seven 
years, they can move to whatever place gives them their own preferred 
optimal mix of taxes, benefits, and regulation. This is the old 
standby called federalism, which recognizes no universal truth in 
politics, only local opinion.

And so in sports, at the local level, it should take a smaller 
majority to decide whether someone who is enhanced should be allowed 
to compete than at the national or Olympic level. And why not several 
Olympics, just as there are two (I think) world chess and boxing 
federations?

There will be change over time, of course. Only amateurs were allowed 
to compete in the Olympics, but I do believe that the 
amateur-professional distinction had been erased over the years.

Though I don't know exactly what it is, a foul in basketball does not 
imply, now at any rate, imply any moral irregularity but is rather 
just a rule that strategists have come to take into account in a 
wholly amoral way. I might think there is too much roughness in 
football, and quite a number of others fully agree with me. The rules 
may change toward a more "conservative" interpretation.

Now, at the extreme, we can imagine track events allowing not only 
prosthetics that happen to enhance speed but those that deliberately 
do so. In the end, I suppose, there won't be any running at all but 
rather humans being shot out of cannon! You can figure out the 
scenario of a gradual change (weakening) of the rules yourself.

An Amputee Sprinter: Is He Disabled or Too-Abled?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/15/sports/othersports/15runner.html

By JERÉ LONGMAN

MANCHESTER, England, May 14 As Oscar Pistorius of South Africa
crouched in the starting blocks for the 200 meters on Sunday, the
small crowd turned its attention to the sprinter who calls himself
the fastest man on no legs.

Pistorius wants to be the first amputee runner to compete in the
Olympics. But despite his ascendance, he is facing resistance from
track and fields world governing body, which is seeking to bar him
on the grounds that the technology of his prosthetics may give him
an unfair advantage over sprinters using their natural legs.

His first strides were choppy Sunday, a necessary accommodation to
sprinting on a pair of j-shaped blades made of carbon fiber and
known as Cheetahs. Pistorius was born without the fibula in his
lower legs and with other defects in his feet. He had both legs
amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old. At 20, his coach
says, he is like a five-speed engine with no second gear.

Yet Pistorius is also a searing talent who has begun erasing the
lines between abled and disabled, raising philosophical questions:
What should an athlete look like? Where should limits be placed on
technology to balance fair play with the right to compete? Would the
nature of sport be altered if athletes using artificial limbs could
run faster or jump higher than the best athletes using their natural
limbs?

Once at full speed Sunday, Pistorius handily won the 100 and 200
meters here at the Paralympic World Cup, an international
competition for disabled athletes. A cold, rainy afternoon tempered
his performances, but his victories came decisively and kept him
aimed toward his goal of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, even
though international track officials seek to block his entrance.

Since March, Pistorius has delivered startling record performances
for disabled athletes at 100 meters (10.91 seconds), 200 meters
(21.58 seconds) and 400 meters (46.34 seconds). Those times do not
meet Olympic qualifying standards for men, but the Beijing Games are
still 15 months away. Already, Pistorius is fast enough that his
marks would have won gold medals in equivalent womens races at the
2004 Athens Olympics.

Pistoriuss time of 46.56 in the 400 earned him a second-place finish
in March against able-bodied runners at the South African national
championships. This seemingly makes him a candidate for the Olympic
4x400-meter relay should South Africa qualify as one of the worlds
16 fastest teams.

I dont see myself as disabled, said the blond, spiky-haired
Pistorius, a former rugby and water polo player who declines to park
in spaces reserved for the disabled. Theres nothing I cant do that
able-bodied athletes can do.

An Equalizer or an Edge?

Still, the question persists: Do prosthetic legs simply level the
playing field for Pistorius, compensating for his disability, or do
they give him an inequitable edge via what some call techno-doping?

Experts say there have been limited scientific studies on the
biomechanics of amputee runners, especially those missing both legs.
And because Pistorius lost his legs as an infant, his speed on
carbon-fiber legs cannot be compared with his speed on natural legs.

Track and fields world governing body, based in Monaco and known by
the initials I.A.A.F., has recently prohibited the use of
technological aids like springs and wheels, disqualifying Pistorius
from events that it sanctions. A final ruling is expected in August.

The International Olympic Committee allows governing bodies to make
their own eligibility rules, though it can intervene. Since 2004,
for example, transgender athletes have been allowed to compete in
the Olympics.

With all due respect, we cannot accept something that provides
advantages, said Elio Locatelli of Italy, the director of
development for the I.A.A.F., urging Pistorius to concentrate on the
Paralympics that will follow the Olympics in Beijing. It affects the
purity of sport. Next will be another device where people can fly
with something on their back.

Others have questioned the governing bodys motivation.

I pose a question for the I.A.A.F., said Robert Gailey, an associate
professor of physical therapy at the University of Miami Medical
School, who has studied amputee runners. Are they looking at not
having an unfair advantage? Or are they discriminating because of
the purity of the Olympics, because they dont want to see a disabled
man line up against an able-bodied man for fear that if the person
who doesnt have the perfect body wins, what does that say about the
image of man?

According to Gailey, a prosthetic leg returns only about 80 percent
of the energy absorbed in each stride, while a natural leg returns
up to 240 percent, providing much more spring.

There is no science that he has an advantage, only that he is
competing at a disadvantage, Gailey, who has served as an official
in disabled sports, said of Pistorius.

Foremost among the I.A.A.F.s concerns is that Pistoriuss prosthetic
limbs may make him taller than he would have been on natural legs
and may unfairly lengthen his stride, allowing him to lower his best
times by several seconds in the past three years, while most elite
sprinters improve by hundredths of a second.

The rule book says a foot has to be in contact with the starting
block, Leon Fleiser, a general manager of the South African Olympic
Committee, said. What is the definition of a foot? Is a prosthetic
device a foot, or is it an actual foot?

I.A.A.F. officials have also expressed concern that Pistorius could
topple over, obstructing others or injuring himself and fellow
competitors. Some also fear that, without limits on technological
aids, able-bodied runners could begin wearing carbon-fiber plates or
other unsuitably springy devices in their shoes.

Among ethicists, Pistoriuss success has spurred talk of transhumans
and cyborgs. Some note that athletes already modify themselves in a
number of ways, including baseball sluggers who undergo laser eye
surgery to enhance their vision and pitchers who have elbow
reconstruction using sturdier ligaments from elsewhere in the body.
At least three disabled athletes have 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; and Marla Runyan, a legally
blind runner from the United States, competed in the 1,500 meters at
the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. But Pistorius would be the first
amputee to compete in a track event, international officials said.

A sobering question was posed recently on the Web site of the
Connecticut-based Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies.
Given the arms race nature of competition, will technological
advantages cause athletes to do something as seemingly radical as
having their healthy natural limbs replaced by artificial ones?
wrote George Dvorsky, a member of the institutes board of directors.
Is it self-mutilation when youre getting a better limb?

Limits and Accommodations

Historically, the I.A.A.F. has placed limits on devices that assist
athletes. It prohibits an array of performance-enhancing drugs. And
it does not allow wheelchair athletes into the Olympic marathon,
given that wheels provide a clear advantage in speed.

But the governing body has also embraced technological advances. For
instance, it permits athletes to sleep in tent-like devices designed
to simulate high altitude and increase oxygen-carrying capacity.

As disabled athletes improve their performances, the I.A.A.F. is
certain to be faced with more decisions about accommodating them.
Last February, Jeff Skiba, who has one leg amputated below the knee,
competed in the high jump at the United States indoor track and
field championships.

Some I.A.A.F. officials say Pistoriuss application should not be
treated dismissively. Although he would not be considered a medal
candidate, his appearance at the Beijing Games could provide an
inspiring story.

There is no real grounds to say he should not be allowed to compete
in the Olympics, said Juan Manuel Alonso of Spain, who heads the
I.A.A.F.s medical and antidoping commission. Wed like to have more
information and biomechanical studies.

His own fear, Pistorius said, is that the governing body, which has
not contacted him, will ban him on supposition, not science.

I think theyre afraid to do the research, Pistorius, a business
student at the University of Pretoria, said. Theyre afraid of what
theyre going to find, that I dont have an advantage and theyll have
to let me compete.

Pistorius, whose stated height is 6 feet 1 ¼ inches while wearing
his sprinting prosthetics, says that the devices are within an
allowed range determined by the length of his thighs. The peak
length of his stride, he said, is 9 feet, not 13 feet as some
I.A.A.F. officials suggest.

There are many disadvantages to sprinting on carbon-fiber legs,
Pistorius and his coach said. After a cumbersome start, he needs
about 30 meters to gain his rhythm. His knees do not flex as
readily, limiting his power output. His grip can be unsure in the
rain. And when he runs into a headwind or grows fatigued, he must
fight rotational forces that turn his prosthetic devices sideways,
said Ampie Louw, who coaches Pistorius.

The I.A.A.F. has got no clue about disabled sport, said Louw, who
has coached Pistorius since 2003.

Insufficient credit is given to Pistoriuss resolve in the weight
room and on the track, Louw said, describing one intense workout
that requires him to run 350 meters in 42 seconds; 300 meters in
34.6 seconds; 200 meters in 22 seconds and 150 meters in 15.4
seconds. The kid is a born champion, Louw said. He doesnt settle for
second best.

Having worn prosthetics since infancy, Pistorius did not have to
adjust to artificial legs after he began competing, as many disabled
athletes do. He won a gold medal in the 200 at the 2004 Paralympics
in Athens.

These have always been my legs, he said. I train harder than other
guys, eat better, sleep better and wake up thinking about athletics.
I think thats probably why Im a bit of an exception.

One who is attempting to broaden the definition of an Olympic
athlete.

You have two competing issues fair competition and basic human
rights to compete, said Angela Schneider, a sports ethicist at the
University of Western Ontario and a 1984 Olympic silver medalist in
rowing.

The I.A.A.F. must objectively define when prosthetic devices go from
therapy to enhancement, Schneider said. The danger of acting
hastily, she said, is you deny a guys struggle against all odds one
of the fundamental principles of the Olympics.