Blade Runner

Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius has won the right to compete for a place in the Beijing Olympics. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled on Friday that the 21-year-old South African is eligible to race against able-bodied athletes. Now I don’t want to sound insensitive, but I really don’t like this idea of letting Pistorius compete at the Olympic games. Now while my heart goes out to a guy that was born without fibulas in both legs due to a congenital condition, there is a place for him to compete - the Paralympic games. I don’t mean to take away from the athletic ability that Pistorius possesses, but the issue of running with the aid of carbon fiber transtibial artificial limbs opens a huge can of slimy worms. Where does the Court of Arbitration for Sport draw the line on this issue? Does this mean that if I was born with no legs that I can wear special rocket skates that allow me to compete in speed skating? Maybe I’m missing an arm so I rig up some special bionic unit that can throw the javelin 500-meters. Oh, wait. Next we’ll have Pistorius in the Decathlon with his spring-like legs running and high jumping his way to gold. Every step that the 21 year old takes on his synthetic legs down this path is not helping his fellow athletes in Paralympic sport, but hurting them. He’s turning his back on a sport that gave him a better way of life and saying, “You’re not good enough for me anymore.” Known as the "blade runner," Pistorius holds the 400-meter Paralympic record of 46.56 seconds and that’s where he should stay. He should be intent on trying to improve that number. Oh, and by the way, the Olympic qualifying time is 45.55 seconds, so he should maybe spend his days trying to shave a second off his best ever time instead of fighting in court. But those are just the thoughts rattling around in ‘My Big Head’. Derek Meyers – CJDC-TV Sports.