Monday, January 14, 2008

Amputee sprinter ruled ineligible for Olympics





Have you seen this? I heard about this guy a while back and thought for sure that they would allow him to compete. It seemed that there would be no question. I have read the reason they are denying him. I "understand" that they believe his prosthesis will give him an "unfair" advantage. However, what does having no legs do? How about all the muscles he has to use in order to make those "cheetah legs" work? How about the balance he has to have in order to be able to walk without feet?


Oscar Pistorius was born with bilateral fibular hemimelia. Madeleine has unilateral fibular hemimelia. Somehow I feel somewhat of a kinship with this guy. I'm proud of him. I want him to succeed and not just in the paralympics but in all able-bodied sports as well.


I'm wondering how this will all play out, assuming that someone from the Disabilities Discrimination will get involved at some point.


I want to welcome comments but I certainly do not want to hear anything negative on my blog. Imagine my sweet baby girl overcoming all the odds that she has overcome to have someone tell her that she couldn't do what her able-bodied peers can. I couldn't read through the comments on the Fox sports page. Michael did and they made him heart sick. We realize that we will face all of this criticism and negativity toward our daughter at some point. Kids will make fun of her, she will feel as if life is unfair, she will have questions, she may be an angry teenager and we realize this but for now we want to make our family unit as strong as possible so that she (and Max) feel as though they can do anything.

1 comment:

Winbrooke said...

wow, he is awesome. I think you should try to contact him and tell him how you feel! He should totally be allowed to compete. one day. It has to happen.