The Olympics have been awesome to watch for the past week and a half, and I am especially into the track and field events that recently started. Prior to the Olympics starting, I wrote about my appreciation for parathletes, and that was before I had ever heard of Oscar Pistorius. Oscar is a sprinter from South Africa, and the first amputee to compete in the Olympics. There was a decent amount of controversy surrounding his Olympic qualification; there was argument that he had an advantage because of the "blades" that he runs on as prosthetics. Oscar and his lawyers logically defused these claims, pointing out the scientific evidence that proved his blades were merely springs (not bionic in anyway), and that many parathletes use the same blades that he does...and they are nowhere near as fast. It wasn't that he had an advantage, but that he was merely insanely talented-- like any Olympic athlete.
Oscar qualified for the semi-finals, and ultimately came in 5th in that heat. At the end of the race the winner of the heat went over to him and asked to trade bibs-- the ultimate runner sign of respect. When I saw this, I teared up a bit. In Pistorius' mind, the minds of his competitors and people worldwide, he had won. Oscar said that he considered it a victory that he had made the Olympics, that he could be a part of history, the further progression of our world towards equality.
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