A Spring In His Step

The prosthetic legs of double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius give the South African a 10-second advantage over a 400-meter race, according to a new study. and they also allow him that cherry parking spot.

Human performance researchers- that's researchers of human performance, not performance researchers that are specifically human - at Southern Methodist University and the University of Wyoming (apparent hotbeds of scientific research in this area), found that Pistorius, who has been cleared to compete against able-bodied athletes, runs the distance 10 seconds faster than he would if his prosthetic limbs behaved like normal legs. Their conclusion will be published in the Journal of Applied Physiology. Pistorius' angry response will likely be too vulgar to print.

"Pistorius' sprinting mechanics are anomalous, advantageous and directly attributable to how much lighter and springier his artificial limbs are," they said. "The blades enhance sprint running speeds by 15-30%." Originally, based on tests performed by German professor Gert-Peter Brueggemann, the IAAF banned Pistorius from competing against able-bodied athletes in January 2008, but that was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in May. The CAS ruling cleared Pistorius to compete at the Beijing Olympics, but he failed to run the required qualifying time of 45.95 seconds. His personal best is 46.25. Hmmm, not much of an advantage then, right?

After failing to reach the Olympics in Beijing, Pistorius won three gold medals in the 100, 200 and 400 at the Paralympics last September. He also failed to meet the qualified standard ahead of this year's world championships in Berlin. Pistorius (22), known as the "Blade Runner," still hopes to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics.

Researchers say that the lightweight blades allow Pistorius "to reposition his limbs 15.7% more rapidly than five of the most recent former world-record holders in the 100-meter dash." "The springy, lightweight blades allow Pistorius to attain the same sprinting speeds while applying 20% less ground force than intact-limb runners," they added. "The springy blades reduce the muscle forces Pistorius requires for sprinting to less than half of intact-limb levels."

You can read a whole bunch more on artificial limbs and cyborgs as para-athlete Aimee Mullins was a guest editor at Gizmodo last week.