Oscar Pistorius fails to qualify for the Olympics

It seems like the endless legal struggle to be allowed to compete in the Olympics took its toll on cyborg sprinter Oscar Pistorious -- he didn't qualify for the South African Olympic team on Wednesday, after failing to run the 400 under the 45.55 second minimum required to make the trip to Beijing. Interestingly, Pistorious's 46.25-second time was his best ever, even though critics claimed that the double-amputee's "Cheetah" prosthetics allowed him to use only 25 percent of the energy used by traditional runners. That's not the last we'll see of Oscar, though -- he says he's happy with his season's results, and he'll be back to try out for the 2012 Games in London.

[atbnet @ Jul 18th 2008 7:53PM]

I guess Oscar obviously wasn't FIRST!

[The Dude @ Jul 18th 2008 8:08PM]

I LOL'd.

You guys did too, admit it.

[Michael LaFramboise @ Jul 18th 2008 11:39PM]

He may not have been the first, but he certainly didn't FAIL!

[white_ultras @ Jul 19th 2008 1:28AM]

Chinese should gave him a "wildcard" or something. They completely missed the huge potential here. I myself would take a peep at the TV, he is out now, another reason not to watch.

[tekdemon @ Jul 19th 2008 4:51AM]

He's not Chinese so the Chinese can't put him on anything...his own country's Olympic team has to do that.

[notjoel @ Jul 18th 2008 7:57PM]

Pistorious or Pitorious? There is a typo either in the story or in the title.

[Ryan @ Jul 19th 2008 1:05AM]

It's "Pistorius".

[Sly Fox @ Jul 18th 2008 8:00PM]

way to pick on a guy thats missing 2 legs.......lets see u try to type that comment without 2 arms....

[Sly Fox @ Jul 18th 2008 8:01PM]

dumb reply button @atbnet

[CraigJ @ Jul 18th 2008 10:37PM]

a sense of humor. get one.

[Jon Doe. @ Jul 18th 2008 11:20PM]

Dear Sly,

People like you need to get the broom stick that is lodged up their ass removed. Its PC nutjobs like you that are destroying society and the world. In short....lighten the fuck up.

Sincerely,

The ghost of George Carlin

[Eric @ Jul 19th 2008 1:26AM]

I wasn't picking on him. I just felt like he had a leg up on the competition.

[kidcanuck @ Jul 19th 2008 4:31AM]

Personally, I wish him good luck in 2012. Break a leg, Oscar! (I know, Oscar, I'm just pulling your leg)

[deyanimay @ Jul 19th 2008 5:16AM]

o the puns are too much =)

[Sly Fox @ Jul 19th 2008 9:54AM]

to all of those replying to my comment, I was being sarcastic god

[fil @ Jul 19th 2008 1:37PM]

@kidcanuck:
oh, the puns, oh dear... lol

yeah but seriously, who sets the qualifying targets?

[HOOPER @ Jul 18th 2008 8:02PM]

Awww. I was rooting for him.

[telepheedian @ Jul 18th 2008 8:03PM]

Same here, but he probably should have made sure he could qualify before fighting the huge legal battle over it.

[Dave @ Jul 18th 2008 8:06PM]

I don't care if he uses 1% of the energy of everyone else. The guy's running with no legs. Give him the gold.

[Dylan @ Jul 18th 2008 8:15PM]

Sure, give him the gold for effort, I completely agree with you in that its a feat in itself but you say that like the people competing with two legs in tact are doing nothing beyond that of any person. The reason the Special Olympics were created was for those that couldn't compete at the same level as those that are more fortunate than them, if this guy wants to compete in the Olympics then he should be judged at the same or with a handicap if he's using 25% of the energy of athletes with two fully functioning legs. If he didn't make it, he didn't make it, end of story, and i think he would remark in the same way.

[Germ @ Jul 18th 2008 9:00PM]

My 2-cents:

If he actually did qualify for the Olympics and got maybe 4th, everybody would cheer, shed a tear, and talk about how much determination this guy has.

But....

If he did get 1st, it would start an uproar and he might even have his gold taken away. The fact that he uses less energy than his organic-legged competitors makes it unfair.

But, he didn't qualify, therefore the comment you just read was meaningless.

---Germ

[riggs @ Jul 18th 2008 9:49PM]

meaningless comments is what we stand for here in Engadget

[poo @ Jul 19th 2008 10:33AM]

thats almost 25%!

[dustandechoes91 @ Jul 18th 2008 8:12PM]

He does have an advantage. My calves die in the 400- you have to use them a lot. His are made from space age polymers or something along those lines

[thepumpkingdom @ Jul 18th 2008 8:41PM]

the point is that his hamstrings have to take on all the work of his calves. not the prosthetics. There is a NYTimes article on this.

He's not arguing either way that they give him an advantage or not - it hasn't been proven. And until it is, let him race - he is amazing.

Sadly i bet they'll outlaw him by 2012.

[BigD145 @ Jul 18th 2008 8:14PM]

Less energy does not equal more speed. It just means he can run longer.

[skyline_gtr777 @ Jul 18th 2008 8:22PM]

It means less fatigue and a higher average speed as other will tire and slow down before he does. He still sucked though.

[BigD145 @ Jul 18th 2008 9:13PM]

He wasn't going in for marathon running. The shorter runs still require impressive top speeds to make the cut. He wasn't fast enough.

[Ryan @ Jul 19th 2008 1:08AM]

He sucked? Are you serious?

Let's see you run the 400 as fast as he did, you jackass.

[Wwhat @ Jul 19th 2008 8:14AM]

Once they approve motorbikes in running I can win too, now if only someone started that legal battle already.

[ChrisH @ Jul 18th 2008 8:22PM]

He was cleared, but there was another study done by someone looking at the split times of people that run the 400m, and Oscar was the only person that ran a negative split (faster 2nd 200 than first 200). That can be read here:

http://www.sportsscientists.com/2007/07/oscar-pistorius-debut-scientific-facts_17.html

Some people imagine that he might be able to run a faster 800m than anyone due to this (very slow start, much faster afterwards), but as the 400m is the longest distance that uses individual lanes, in the 800m his prosthetic might interfere with other runners so no one is sure that he would be allowed to compete, or that it would be fair.

[Dave @ Jul 18th 2008 8:30PM]

Interesting. I still think it's fair either way, though, because anyone is allowed to amputate their legs and replace them with prostheses.

[thepumpkingdom @ Jul 18th 2008 8:43PM]

He runs a negative split because it's impossible for him to get out of the blocks. He has to throw his entire body upward rather than forward. He gets zero push off of the blocks:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/15/sports/othersports/15runner.html?_r=1&scp=7&sq=pistorius&st=cse&oref=slogin

[ChrisH @ Jul 18th 2008 8:46PM]

Going off that logic, then, if they wound up with prosthesis in the future that were far more efficient than human legs, the only possible way to qualify for the Olympics would be to have your own legs amputated and run with those prosthesis? Given that that have a separate Olympics for people with prosthesis's, and they can't be sure it offers no advantage, I was OK with banning him for the moment.

[Dave @ Jul 18th 2008 8:53PM]

Sure. And going by your logic, a genetic advantage isn't fair either. So now we should try to measure people's genetic potential and only allow people to compete who are exact matches? That way everything is nice and fair.

[John @ Jul 18th 2008 9:31PM]

Sure, anyone can amputate their legs... but then again, anyone can take steroids. Having your legs amputated is an unacceptable risk, in the same way that steroids are also deemed unacceptable.

That's why they would consider restricting him from entering. As for myself, I feel that when you get down to it, they're games, people. The olympic GAMES. I mean, I'm all for people getting to do whatever crazy stuff they want to their bodies to do better. I'd rather watch steroid loaded super-cyborgs play sports than regular people. It would enjoin all the fun of NASCAR with other sports - you have the added possibility that someone will exceed the limitations of their mechanical enhancements, flip over, and explode! That's better than watching giant ape fights. Come on people, give it a chance.

[robmora @ Jul 18th 2008 9:33PM]

The REAL reason he won't compete in the 800m is that he would kick everyone's ass and it would be obvious he has an advantage (at that distance). His results in the 400m seem to show things even out a bit more... but what happens when he improves and actually does qualify or win? In that case, logic pretty much dictates he still has an advantage at this distance. The minute he qualifies, he's proven that.

You see where this is going - it's a slippery slope and you can't have lawyers & statisticians trying to figure out at what point exactly he can compete against regular people. I applaud what he's achieved, but he has no place in the standard events.

[loosely_coupled @ Jul 19th 2008 6:23AM]

"I'd rather watch steroid loaded super-cyborgs play sports than regular people. It would enjoin all the fun of NASCAR with other sports - you have the added possibility that someone will exceed the limitations of their mechanical enhancements, flip over, and explode! That's better than watching giant ape fights. Come on people, give it a chance."


HAHHAAAAAAAAA! LMAO! Best comment today!

[mabhatter @ Jul 20th 2008 2:10AM]

I'd have to agree with John. There are many routine medical treatments involving steroids and such for things like asthma that also disqualify regular people from competing in events. If you want to compete as an athlete you may have to give up certain medical treatments, or sit out races under disqualification... I don't see how artificial legs are any different at this point. Sports are a meat market... society prefers "pure beef".

[Tracy in Cary @ Jul 21st 2008 3:32PM]

It's pretty common for new technology to be questioned. I used to pole vault and I remember reading the first time anyone tried to use the fiberglass poles, which are very common now, they were disqualified. What will happen in the future when someone invents some wacky carbon nanotube flexipole that will bend super easy and then toss you 30 feet in the air?

We also see the same thing with the ultra-high-tech cycles used in the cycling events, and I think I remember something about I read here on Engadget about a new high-tech swimsuit material that glides through water easier.

[Tim @ Jul 18th 2008 8:31PM]

I personally think that whatever gains his prostheses offer would be offset by his lack of ankle strategy; but then again its hard to know how much effect that has in the 400m (read: on a flat track.) But I can certainly sympathize with detractors; If the prostheses offer such a gain, it opens a window to an athlete who trains 75% as much as others yet remains competitive. Tricky situation; Kind of fortunate in a way that he didn't qualify as that gives humanity four more years to figure out how to deal with this.

[macserv @ Jul 18th 2008 8:31PM]

Go cyborg! --Stewie

[hiko36 @ Jul 18th 2008 8:35PM]

Deep down, I'm kinda glad he didn't. No telling what kind of can o' worms this would have opened...

[KilgoreTrout @ Jul 18th 2008 8:39PM]

Shame, I love all worms no matter what can they came out of

[PeterF @ Jul 18th 2008 8:37PM]

I don't think its fair for him to compete with people who don't have prostheses. They aren't on the same level.

[KilgoreTrout @ Jul 18th 2008 8:38PM]

Shame , I love all worms no matter what can they came out from

[hiko36 @ Jul 18th 2008 8:39PM]

I'm guessing that was a reply at me??

[Tone @ Jul 18th 2008 8:50PM]

whoomp there it is.

[arfster @ Jul 18th 2008 8:54PM]

It's not like the botton half of the leg is dead weight - he's also missing the muscles down there that help with balance and add extra propulsion.

[ethana2 @ Jul 19th 2008 12:34AM]

Yeah, it may be 'less energy', but somehow it seems like a lot more accidents waiting to happen..