2012 Olympics - what are your thoughts about the carbon fibre legs?

[Roman]

I know that the last few years have seen some traction on this topic in the world of sport. Purists see the prosthetics are providing an unfair advantage.
If memory serves the purists see that the flex in the carbon fibre and their design can permit him to 'spring' when he runs and provide a little more 'propulsion' than regular muscle and shoes combined.

While far from being an athlete myself I lean to the side of the 'unfair advantage' camp. This is not based on any form of discrimination - heck I think that it is awesome alone that the tech exists and provides him with the opportunity to run.

That being said - I also don't see him allowed into the para-olympics either. Talk about a rock and a hard place.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/london2012/article/1221139--double-amputee-oscar-pistorius-makes-olympic-relay-team

What do you guys think?

[Harkonis]

I agree.  I also agree that it's a sad place to put him in.  His real life disadvantage provides an advantage in this area.  A grossly overdone example would be someone who had their face replaced with metal plating after a 'not-zombie' ate it then entering the UFC or boxing.

You also don't want to setup anything that encourages uber-competitive people to intentionally disable themselves to get an advantage.  If you allow him to compete and it does prove to give him a big enough advantage I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that someone could get the procedure done that had perfectly good legs.  People do strange things to win.

[Roman]

I think a comedian once said that it would be cool to have an 'olympics' that encouraged enhancements either like this but also with steroids. Would be neat to see the records fall.

[Crux]

I'm against it. The problem is while we can theorize as to whether he has an advantage or not, we just don't really know. And that is enough to say he shouldn't be competing in the Olympics.

[rshetts2]

This is a tough one.  Depriving a person of his right to compete based on a supposed advantage while ignoring the monumental effort its taken him to overcome his handicap?  Yeah, I dont want to make that call.

[Isgrimnur]

They can measure the energy return of things.  I say if the energy return is greater than what you could reasonably expect from a human leg, then it's outlawed.  If we're going to start using enhancements, then it needs to be subjected to the same sort of rigorous inspections as NASCAR vehicles.

[kronovan]

You also don't want to setup anything that encourages uber-competitive people to intentionally disable themselves to get an advantage.  If you allow him to compete and it does prove to give him a big enough advantage I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that someone could get the procedure done that had perfectly good legs.  People do strange things to win.

You're kidding right? Somone would deliberately have their legs hacked off below the knee to compete in a sport without professional level salaries and a financial sponsorship system that's heavily scurtinized!?     Yeah right, maybe if they're truly insane. 

[wonderpug]

It's a good few steps further than people destroying themselves with drugs in the name of sports, but not really all that different in concept.

[Harkonis]

I'm definitely not kidding at all.  You really don't know just how far people go in the name of competition.

[wonderpug]

You make cyborg Olympics sound like a bad thing, but the possibilities...