Scotia on the Paralympics

Oscar cries foul after defeat
2012-09-03 07:47



Oscar Pistorius (Gallo Images)
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London - Having spent years fighting for the right to race his own blades, Oscar Pistorius is now complaining about a rival's artificial limbs after a stunning loss at the London Paralympics on Sunday.

The "Blade Runner" had never been beaten over 200m in Paralympic competition until Brazilian sprinter Alan Fonteles Cardoso Oliveira came storming down the home straight past him to win by 0.07 seconds.

The icon of the Paralympics had been dethroned and wasn't taking it lightly.

Pistorius immediately raised concerns with Paralympic officials that Oliveira's surge came through rule-bending blades helping with the late strides.

Pistorius, who won a legal battle to compete wearing carbon-fiber blades alongside able-bodied runners at the Olympics last month, suggested that Oliveira ran with longer prosthesis than should be allowed.

Oliveira won gold in 21.45 seconds after overtaking Pistorius at the line at Olympic Stadium in the T44 classification race in front of a capacity 80 000-strong crowd.

"Not taking away from Alan's performance - he's a great athlete - but these guys are a lot taller and you can't compete (with the) stride length," Pistorius said in a broadcast interview. "You saw how far he came back. We aren't racing a fair race. I gave it my best. The IPC (International Paralympic Committee) have their regulations. The regulations (allow) that athletes can make themselves unbelievably high.

"We've tried to address the issue with them in the weeks up to this and it's just been falling on deaf ears."

While Pistorius tried to be more magnanimous later, he still claimed it was "ridiculous" that Oliveira could win after being eight metres adrift at the 100m mark and deny him a third straight 200m gold.

"He's never run a 21 second-race and I don't think he's a 21-second athlete," Pistorius said. "I've never lost a 200m race in my career."

The South African double amputee had the support of compatriot Arnu Fourie, who finished fourth and questioned Oliveira's lengthened blades

"Ask anyone out there - does it look weird? Does it look out of proportion?" Fourie said. "I think 99 percent of people are going to tell you, 'Yes it does.'"

"If they are within the rules you can't fight the athlete, so you're going to have to fight the formula and fight the rule if we're going to do anything about it."

Oliveira insisted he had not broken the rules, and expressed disappointment with Pistorius's criticism.

"He is a really great idol, and to listen to that coming from a really great athlete is really difficult," Oliveira said through a translator. "I don't know who he's picking a fight with, it's not with me."

The 20-year-old Oliveira was backed by Paralympic leaders.

"There is a rule in place regarding the length of the blades, which is determined by a formula based on the height and dynamics of the athlete," the IPC said in a statement. "All athletes were measured today (Sunday) prior to competition by a classifier and all were approved for competition."

Paralympic officials, including the top medical official, agreed to meet with Pistorius after the race.

"He wanted to voice his concerns and we listened to those concerns," said IPC spokesperson Craig Spence, who was at the meeting. "The IPC will meet with Oscar at a later date to discuss his concerns once the emotion of tonight is out of the way."

The second half of Pistorius's year in London is not running to script.

At the start of last month, Pistorius reached the 400m semi-finals and the 4x400m relay final. Competing at the Olympics was some achievement alone, though the medals were meant to come at the Paralympics.

But Oliveira could stand in the way of Pistorius and glory for the rest of the games, competing in all of his events.

Next up is the 4x100m relay on Wednesday before Pistorius defends his titles in the 100m on Thursday and 400m on Saturday.

Earlier on Sunday in the Olympic Stadium, a Ukrainian athlete who was stripped of her Paralympic discus title after an error by scorers was told she would be allowed to keep her gold medal.

Mariia Pomazan had been relegated to silver after officials said the placings from Friday's F35/36 final were incorrect because an outdated scoring system had been used. China's Wu Qing was promoted to first place.

However, the IPC that in the "spirit of fair play," Pomazan would be allowed to keep her gold although it would not be added to Ukraine's medal tally.

She said she was "extremely emotional" and called it an "unforgettable experience."

A picture speaks more than 1,000 words - but it those blades are within the current rules, not much to be done abt it now - but surely the rules need a re-look before 2016?

Also confusing to me is that in some race, athletes with one blade competes against others with two blades :S

I gather it's a case where Oscar wanted to be a "normal" athlete and he had to meet certain specifications to run in the Olympics, not to have an unfair advantage over normal athletes, and in the paralympics have different rules, or bigger tolerances ie leg size.

I hate to sound too cynical about "paralympics" but I have always wondered whether the medals merely measure "least impaired" or sometimes,as in this case, "most assisted"

Some of "The Elite athletes" were asked at the olympics if oscar should run against them they all said yes,but one guy(can`t remember who) said we don`t mind him running because he can`t beat the top guys(which was true) but if he did improve past them there would be a massive fuss.. The elite athletes had a massive problem with the fact that he can run faster the last 100m of the 400m race,something they find impossible to do..

if no rule chnage is forthcoming, then Oscar will have to get longer blades to compete.

Justanotherpunter Wrote:

---

> Oscar cries foul after defeat
> 2012-09-03 07:47
>
>
>
> Oscar Pistorius (Gallo Images)
> Related Links
> Shock result for Oscar
> Pistorius smashes world record
> Why is he taller, asks Oscar
>
>
> London - Having spent years fighting for the right
> to race his own blades, Oscar Pistorius is now
> complaining about a rival's artificial limbs after
> a stunning loss at the London Paralympics on
> Sunday.
>
> The "Blade Runner" had never been beaten over 200m
> in Paralympic competition until Brazilian sprinter
> Alan Fonteles Cardoso Oliveira came storming down
> the home straight past him to win by 0.07
> seconds.
>
> The icon of the Paralympics had been dethroned and
> wasn't taking it lightly.
>
> Pistorius immediately raised concerns with
> Paralympic officials that Oliveira's surge came
> through rule-bending blades helping with the late
> strides.
>
> Pistorius, who won a legal battle to compete
> wearing carbon-fiber blades alongside able-bodied
> runners at the Olympics last month, suggested that
> Oliveira ran with longer prosthesis than should be
> allowed.
>
> Oliveira won gold in 21.45 seconds after
> overtaking Pistorius at the line at Olympic
> Stadium in the T44 classification race in front of
> a capacity 80 000-strong crowd.
>
> "Not taking away from Alan's performance - he's a
> great athlete - but these guys are a lot taller
> and you can't compete (with the) stride length,"
> Pistorius said in a broadcast interview. "You saw
> how far he came back. We aren't racing a fair
> race. I gave it my best. The IPC (International
> Paralympic Committee) have their regulations. The
> regulations (allow) that athletes can make
> themselves unbelievably high.
>
> "We've tried to address the issue with them in the
> weeks up to this and it's just been falling on
> deaf ears."
>
> While Pistorius tried to be more magnanimous
> later, he still claimed it was "ridiculous" that
> Oliveira could win after being eight metres adrift
> at the 100m mark and deny him a third straight
> 200m gold.
>
> "He's never run a 21 second-race and I don't think
> he's a 21-second athlete," Pistorius said. "I've
> never lost a 200m race in my career."
>
> The South African double amputee had the support
> of compatriot Arnu Fourie, who finished fourth and
> questioned Oliveira's lengthened blades
>
> "Ask anyone out there - does it look weird? Does
> it look out of proportion?" Fourie said. "I think
> 99 percent of people are going to tell you, 'Yes
> it does.'"
>
> "If they are within the rules you can't fight the
> athlete, so you're going to have to fight the
> formula and fight the rule if we're going to do
> anything about it."
>
> Oliveira insisted he had not broken the rules, and
> expressed disappointment with Pistorius's
> criticism.
>
> "He is a really great idol, and to listen to that
> coming from a really great athlete is really
> difficult," Oliveira said through a translator. "I
> don't know who he's picking a fight with, it's not
> with me."
>
> The 20-year-old Oliveira was backed by Paralympic
> leaders.
>
> "There is a rule in place regarding the length of
> the blades, which is determined by a formula based
> on the height and dynamics of the athlete," the
> IPC said in a statement. "All athletes were
> measured today (Sunday) prior to competition by a
> classifier and all were approved for
> competition."
>
> Paralympic officials, including the top medical
> official, agreed to meet with Pistorius after the
> race.
>
> "He wanted to voice his concerns and we listened
> to those concerns," said IPC spokesperson Craig
> Spence, who was at the meeting. "The IPC will meet
> with Oscar at a later date to discuss his concerns
> once the emotion of tonight is out of the way."
>
> The second half of Pistorius's year in London is
> not running to script.
>
> At the start of last month, Pistorius reached the
> 400m semi-finals and the 4x400m relay final.
> Competing at the Olympics was some achievement
> alone, though the medals were meant to come at the
> Paralympics.
>
> But Oliveira could stand in the way of Pistorius
> and glory for the rest of the games, competing in
> all of his events.
>
> Next up is the 4x100m relay on Wednesday before
> Pistorius defends his titles in the 100m on
> Thursday and 400m on Saturday.
>
> Earlier on Sunday in the Olympic Stadium, a
> Ukrainian athlete who was stripped of her
> Paralympic discus title after an error by scorers
> was told she would be allowed to keep her gold
> medal.
>
> Mariia Pomazan had been relegated to silver after
> officials said the placings from Friday's F35/36
> final were incorrect because an outdated scoring
> system had been used. China's Wu Qing was promoted
> to first place.
>
> However, the IPC that in the "spirit of fair
> play," Pomazan would be allowed to keep her gold
> although it would not be added to Ukraine's medal
> tally.
>
> She said she was "extremely emotional" and called
> it an "unforgettable experience."


I like OP,but he has gone down in my estimation.I thought it was us Pomms that winged.
He has since appologised,rightly so..

The fact that single blades have no chance against the doubles says everything. Stable companion unplaced and running a world record, OP would have more grace if he was more worried about that discrepancy.

A few more inches and maybe the blades runner quicker than bolt. Possibly OP can't go for bigger blades without breaking his deal with the (normal) Olympics? Bit of a catch-22.

Great to watch Oscar and the team lifting Gold in the relay (tu)

Watched the 100 mt last night and the Brit Peacock was a flying machine, Amu Fourie managed the bronze and Peacocks hero Oscar managed only 4th.

The guy that won the 100m lastnight is a freak usain bolt like ability imo Race replay

Oscar what a race. He was the 'Frankel' of the 400M.

Does anyone know how much our athletes get for a gold medal?