How can oscar pistorius compete in both olympics

German-born U. Louis games with a wooden left leg, a replacement for the one he lost after being run over by a train as a child. He won gold in three events — including in the vault and the ft. Hungarian water-polo player Oliver Halassy, who also had a leg amputated, competed in three Olympic Games from through Even after the creation of the Paralympic Games for disabled athletes in , athletes with disabilities have competed in the Olympics.

But as he prepares for his Olympic debut, Pistorius faces mounting criticism over the carbon-fiber blades he runs on. In , the International Association of Athletics Federations ruled he had an unfair advantage over able-bodied runners because of them.

Though the Court of Arbitration of Sport overruled its decision in , some runners remain skeptical. American runner Michael Johnson says Pistorius never has to worry about shin splints or fatigue like able-bodied runners do.

Others have criticized him for needing less oxygen and fewer calories. Another may rely more on his arm thrust. Amputees develop ways to interact with their prosthetic that makes sense for them. In many ways, studying Pistorius is difficult. There's only one of him, and only one good study that uses his specific physiology. There are no other Olympic-level double amputees, and single-leg amputees run totally differently. Imagine your right leg could swing 10 percent faster than your left; your left leg simply could not keep up.

A person with one prosthetic and one intact leg can only go as fast as his slowest leg—generally the biological one. To complicate matters further, science doesn't totally understand how running works. They have a working idea, he says, but it's possible that the forces Weyand and Kram are debating aren't important. Weyland will not say outright whether or not Pistorius should be allowed to run in the Olympics.

Perhaps, he says, the sprinter represents something more important than the dispute over his light, springy legs. For Kram, whether Pistorius should run comes down to power. You have to find that desire or have that physiological ability to push. That's what makes the Olympics special.

He's pushed his whole life. Now Pistorius will represent South Africa in the meter race and the 4 x meter relay. Rose Eveleth is a writer and producer who explores how humans tangle with science and technology. She's the creator and host Flash Forward, a podcast about possible and not so possible futures, and has covered everything from fake tumbleweed farms to million dollar baccarat heists.

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