TAN #178: If TANning were an Olympic sport ... (Page 17)

^nice.  Apparently Lisa, you didn't consider the passion that this person attaches to music.

had a different thought here, but sure like child birth.

Sorry, I had a good chuckle there!  My dyslexia kicked in and I thought you meant: lame-azz.

I can't believe you are against womens sufferage :-P

Thought you had a different idea here, but didn't want to get the perv card pulled on me by Cord.

I wouldn't worry about it anymore...  I think someone has been soundly put in their place.

You are still a perv but now you are just a cowardly perv

Sadly, you are right! 

You proposed ending a BT pile-on?  Haha good luck with that

Can I ask why the guy with the fake legs was racing with all the other "normal" athletes?  Why wouldn't he races with other amutees? 

I have no opinion or emotion on this subject just wondering why?

Because they are no competition for him, like absolutely zero. He just killed em. 

I was gonna put up a sarc post that I didn't agree with the rule to end the thread and was gonna keep posting

Cause he already beat all of them - he won a gold at the paralympics.

He had to fight tooth and nail just to be allowed to compete in the olympics.  Some racers were complaining that his blades give him an unfair advantage

I seem to recall he responded with something like "if they believe that, they're welcome to have the same surgery I did".

He does, and kicks their arse.  He qualified just like anyone else to go up against able bodied athletes and did pretty well.  Made it out of the first round of qualifiers to make into the semi's...

There was also a big debate if the cheetah legs gave him an advantage (still is controversy) but it was ruled "no".

My only question is, if  he keeps losing, I'm sure the easy answer is "no" but if someone should win?  I bet the debate was be heated...  And really, there is no way to tell.  You can't compair the same person with legs and without.

Oscar Pistorius went through a long, long appeals process for that, and it was finally determined that the specific legs he used to run did not present any advantage over human legs ... and he was good enough to qualify and run in the Olympics. I believe he will also run in the Paralympics.

There are actually a surprising number of physically challenged athletes who qualify and compete in the Olympics.

There's been a lot of debate on that, which means if there is an advantage it's a small one.

What's not disputed is that it causes him quite a disadvantage getting out of the blocks because he doesn't have the muscles required to make that transition smoothly.

I sort of agree.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the guy.  (well, not in THAT kind of way).  He is really well spoken and has an amazing attitude and I'm impressed with what he did.  Fantastic story.

But even if they didn't provide an advantage (who REALLY knows), if they open up the rule, then what happens when technology get's better?  Is it a case by case situation?  Then there will be law suits every single time?

Like I said before, when he loses, it's nice and a great story.  But if he should WIN?  No one will accept it, right or wrong.

One of the first few things that I thought of that they provide help is they are lighter and don't fatigue and they are probably almost perfect in terms of efficiency.  No lost energy.

But then again, they don't provide any additional energy like lower leg muscles.  Maybe a wash?  But who knows for sure.

I was wondering if they discuss the avoidance of typical running inures as well.  Of course, he's got his own unique set of issues, like anyone else.

I'm sure there are plenty with some challenges that's not as directly related to their sport.  Like if a shooter or paddler had an artificial leg.

Fake legs with running?  I see why it caused a debate.

There's a story in SI about Pistorius and the advantages/disadvantages of his cheetah legs.  Apparently he has a quicker leg swing (because of lighter weight), but also is able to put significantly less force down on each step.  

The net-net seemed to be that there are both advantages and disadvantages.  No way to really know whether there is more of one than the other.  

I do recall that he struggled to make the "A" standard of 45.20 for the 400.  I think he hit the standard about 2-3 weeks before the games started.  I think he ran a 46 something last night.