Editorial

Prosthetics: Disability or Advantage?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/15/sports/othersports/15runner.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Oscar Pistorius is a South African sprinter. In 2012, he became the first ever double amputee to compete at the Olympics. It is a controversial topic that prosthetics are giving athletes, like Pistorius, an unfair advantage against able bodied competitors. It is said that the prosthetic legs give the runners an unfair 'spring' to their step which is something that normal, human legs cannot achieve. As of now, the legs did not give Pistorius a big enough advantage to win anything in the Olympics but it is thought that prosthetics will just keep getting more advanced and will pass by the non-disabled athletes. Some even say that competitors with prosthetics should not be able to compete in the regular olympics along side 'normal' competitors. So, ultimately are prosthetics a disability or an advantage?

In the article, having prosthetics for a disability is compared to wearing special contacts to see better and to steroids. This is outrageous. Choosing to use something to enhance your performance is very different than using a prosthetic so you are able to even do that activity in the first place. Track and field's governing body, the I.A.A.F, almost kept Oscar Pistorius from competing in the Olympics by prohibiting the use of springs and wheels to help the athlete. Tests have been done that show that while wearing prosthetics, you only get back 80% of the energy produced by the leg, compared to the 240% back from a normal leg of a runner. This doesn't seem like any kind of advantage. There is no clear reason as to why Pistorius has an advantage against able bodies runners so there is not reason that he should not be able to compete. These athletes, like Pistorius, are doing using these prosthetics to be able to walk in general, not to enhance their performance. It is greatly unfair to them to say that they are being given an unfair advantage when they have a disability that they have no control over.

It is wrong to be able to keep someone from doing what they love, like running in the Olympics, just because they have a disability. There have been no reports of prosthetics giving an unfair advantage. I believe that these athletes should be able to compete with able-bodied competetors if they wish to do so. If prosthetics start becoming greatly unfair, then is the time to create another competition for them but as for no they should be able to run against anyone whom they choose. It is wrong to say they have an advantage because they are disabled.