THE FASTEST MAN ON NO LEGS
That might sound like a cruel summation of a man born with a congenital condition, a man who, at 11 months, had both legs amputated just below the knee, but it’s what the media have been calling Oscar Pistorius of late, the South African Paralympic runner with his sights set on representing his country in Beijing next year - against able bodied athletes. Because he lost his legs at such a young age, Oscar enjoyed his childhood much like any other healthy young boy - he was just never aware of the impact that such a disability might have on his life, and this disregard of his perceived limitations has endured.
Having defied people’s expectations all his life, he recently had the International Associations of Athletics (IAAF) relax its laws on the use of prosthetic limbs which they initially enforced because of Pistorius himself. There is an ongoing debate as to whether his ‘blades’ (Oscar is nicknamed Blade Runner) provide him with a competitive advantage, something which his own camp categorically refutes. Some of the things the IAAF were coming back with were ridiculous and, Pistorius says, upsetting: “We couldn’t believe some of the stuff they were saying. They said that if they allowed the use of artificial limbs then what would stop athletes turning up with jet packs on their backs.” Fortunately, that’s all in the past now. So, not content with holding the Paralympic record for the 100, 200 and 400m events, the scene is now set for a final effort to shave the 0.8 seconds off his 400m time that would see him qualify him for Beijing. “You can’t say you can’t do something,” Oscar says. “That’s something I grew up with. My dad always said that if you want something enough then you can do it.”
Amen to that.
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Most inspirational man I've read about in a long long time...
See it, do it. Never give up. No matter what barriers exist.
A lesson for us all.