Friday, May 30, 2008

LET HIM RUN

The Court of Arbitration For Sport has ruled that Oscar Pistorius can run in the Beijing Olympics in August. They over turned the IAAF, the ruling body of International Track and Field. The South African can now participate in the 2008 Games providing he is able to post a time at least equal to the Olympic standard of 45.00 in the 400 meters, (Oscar's best time so far this year is 46.56), or be chosen by the South African's for their Olympic team.

Why is this such a big deal? And trust me, this is a big deal.

Oscar is known as "the fastest man on no legs." He was born, 21 years ago without fibulas - the long, thin outer bone between the knee and the ankle -and was 11 months old when his legs were amputated below the knee. Oscar runs on "blades," Cheetah Flex-Foot carbon fibre transtibial artificial limbs.

A true athlete, in high school he played tennis, water polo, wrestling, and rugby. In fact "Oz" was introduced to running, four years ago, while recovering from a rugby injury, and "he never looked back." In the 2006 Paralympic World Championships, he won gold in the 100, 200, and 400 meter events. Now he wants to run against the "World's Best," in the 2008 Olympics.

His personal motto is, "You're not disabled by the disabilities you have, you are able by the abilities you have." Sounds a lot like the Olympic Motto.

p.s. We received our first comment. A very nice one on our blog titled MEMORIAL DAY. Many thanks to Anonymous.

Comments welcomed...Please click on the "Comment" link just below and let us know what you think - CJ.