Oscar Pistorius has two carbon fiber blades for legs. Despite that, he can run 400 meters in 45.07 seconds. And South Africa, his home country, is sending him to the World Championships to compete against a field of normal-legged runners.
The 24-year-old Pistorius has been the subject of debate and discussion since he began using his Cheetah Flex-Foot prostheses. Initially, he had been banned from competing in regular competition because German scientists had concluded he had a 30% efficiency advantage over sprinters with actual legs. Although the ruling was overturned shortly before the Beijing Olympics, ESPN says that he failed to qualify for the 2008 Olympics and the 2009 World Championships.
https://gizmodo.com/sprinter-with-two-carbon-fiber-feet-gets-olympics-thumb-391514
After setting his personal best earlier this year in Rome, he’s finally fast enough to run in the World Championships and will be the only 400 meter sprinter representing South Africa. Pistorius says he’ll be pleased to make it out of his preliminary heats. [ESPN]
