Translated material
The problem of the future
The story of the legless South African runner has gone beyond modern sports
South African track and field athlete Oscar Pistorius may have turned a new page in the history of modern sports. A runner without both legs, using special carbon prostheses, competed on equal terms with healthy athletes, taking part in a stage of the prestigious Golden League series. In Rome, in one of the 400 m races, Pistorius came second with a result of 46.90 seconds, losing to the winner, Italian Stefano Braciola, by 0.18 seconds. But in this case, the result is not so important as the participation of a disabled athlete in healthy competitions.Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius was born on November 22, 1986 in Pretoria. Due to congenital defects of the shin bones, both legs were amputated at 11 months. The parents did everything to prevent their son from losing faith in life, and made special prosthetics on which Oscar learned to walk, run and even climb fences. In 2005, thanks to new carbon prostheses made in the USA costing $3,000, the young man began to achieve sensational results. By the way, a year before that he became the champion of the Paralympic Games. And at the competitions held this year in South Africa, he broke his world Paralympic records at distances of 200 m (22.66 sec.) and 400 m (46.56 sec.). Pistorius is the only runner on prosthetics to complete the 100m dash in 10.91 seconds. The South African athlete's goal is to qualify for the South African Olympic team and compete at the Olympic Games in Beijing next year.
An unprecedented case in the history of modern sports has become a topic of discussion for many experts. In fact, the story of Pistorius has outgrown the framework of sports realities. After all, in fact, a 20-year-old South African youth challenged the entire modern society, trying to prove that he, a person with disabilities, has the same rights as able-bodied athletes. This opinion is shared by the head of the Russian Anti-Doping Service Nikolai Durmanov. In his opinion, this problem lies not in the sports, but in the legal plane.
The case of Pistorius, an athlete who uses special prosthetics, can be interpreted much more broadly. In modern medicine, such a direction as bionics (from the Greek word “bion” - cell of life) is developing quite successfully. Bionics studies the structure and vital functions of organisms in order to formulate and solve new engineering problems. The same artificial tooth can serve as a visual illustration of what, for example, bionics does. It is clear that this area of medicine is not limited to dental prosthetics, but affects the entire range of problems associated with so-called implants. “What about artificial joints, which are made of special, very durable materials and are available to many athletes? - asks Nikolai Durmanov. - Or with a torn ligament, sewn together with a thread made on the basis of advanced nanotechnology? Or the example of the famous golfer Tiger Woods, who suffered from myopia all his life and recently had eye surgery. There is no need to explain the important role vision plays for golfers. How to deal with this? Can all this be considered as some kind of advantage and classified as doping?
According to sports doctors, the very concept of “healthy” in relation to athletes who perform at the highest level, participate in world championships and Olympics, is very conditional. An examination of any Olympian will reveal that this “healthy athlete” has a whole complex or, as doctors say, a bunch of chronic diseases, which is not an obstacle to performance. However, we must understand that many of these diseases are provoked by extreme physical activity and constant stress, like the notorious sports asthma, which has nothing to do with the usual disease of the same name. No asthmatic can run a 50-kilometer ski race or a marathon. At the same time, no one has the right to prohibit an athlete, if he is ready to start and has fulfilled the necessary standard, to participate in competitions. Another thing is that when making such a decision, common sense should prevail.
The head coach of the Russian athletics team, Valery Kulichenko, while paying tribute to the perseverance and courage of the 20-year-old South African, is nevertheless of the opinion that able-bodied athletes and disabled people should compete separately, since many of the devices used by athletes with disabilities create unequal conditions for rivals. “There are many problems in sports, and the first is related to doping,” says Valery Kulichenko. - Healthy athletes are caught for doping, doping is prohibited, and carbon prosthetics are the same technical doping. Today such “legs” were invented, tomorrow they will be improved, and as a result, in one step it will be possible to overcome three meters. And the day after tomorrow a craftsman will appear who will invent a propeller, another master will offer long and strong “arms”, thanks to which it will be possible to break records in pole vaulting. One can discuss this topic ad infinitum. But in any case, the final word will remain with the leadership of the International Athletics Federation.”
So far, according to media reports, IAAF officials have said they will allow Pistorius to compete at this year's world championships in Osaka if he can provide compelling evidence that his prosthetics provide no advantage over other athletes. In addition, a runner on prosthetics will need to get into the South African national team, and to do this, meet the qualifying standard, which is quite high in the 400-meter race - 45.55 seconds. “Another question, will the SA Athletics Federation want to enter this guy for the World Championships? But in any case, this issue - the participation of disabled people in competitions of healthy athletes - must be approached very carefully so as not to throw the baby out with the bathwater,” says Valery Kulichenko.
During his 45 years of work in sports, the head coach of the Russian track and field team, Valery Kulichenko, could not remember a case where a disabled person on prosthetics competed with healthy athletes. Vice-President of the Russian Paralympic Committee Lev Seleznev did not remember a similar fact. Although he explained that at the Paralympics in Atlanta in 1996, American sprinters ran on similar prostheses.
Today in Russia there is an athlete whose fate is somewhat similar to Pistorius. His name is Evgeny Prokofiev. The runner is trained by Boris Rzhishchev. “At one time, I persuaded Rzhishchev to start working with people with disabilities. At first he trained wheelchair athletes, and recently introduced a young athlete without both legs to competitions. Zhenya suffered an accident as a child. At the national winter championship he showed good results. The problem is that the young man is growing, his bones are growing, and therefore he needs to be constantly operated on in order to then select prostheses specifically for him. In the coming days, Zhenya will participate in the Russian Championship in Cheboksary, which will take place from July 23 to 29,” said Lev Seleznev.
At the same time, the Vice-President of the Paralympic Committee is of the opinion that healthy athletes and those with physical disabilities should compete separately. At the same time, the participation of disabled people in major tournaments should be practiced more often. This will help to integrate such people into our society faster and more effectively and will make us cleaner and kinder. “Before the Olympics in Athens, we held a general training camp at the base in Podolsk, where our Paralympians and Olympians trained. I watched several times how Yura Borzakovsky approached disabled children, advised something, helped, and then admitted that this communication in some sense helped him in life, made him more humane,” added Lev Seleznev.
Time will tell how the precedent with Pistorius will continue. According to the head of the Russian Anti-Doping Service, solving this problem is not a topic for today. However, everyone who heard about this 20-year-old South African could not help but express their admiration for the tenacity of this athlete. “One can only applaud what this guy has achieved,” says Nikolai Durmanov. - We are talking about millions of disabled people, whose life cannot be called sweet. Pistorius gave them impetus, gave them hope and taught them to dream. And most importantly, he showed that the most incredible dream can become a reality.”