There are many legends about
Arabian horses. With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the
Arabian is one of the most easily recognizable horse breeds in the world. They
are part of many myths and legends too.
He proudly proclaims “You are
not disabled by your disabilities, but able by your abilities.” He is no stranger to fame ~ People call him all
kinds of things: disabled, differently abled, an inspiration, an egotist, some
even say that he enjoys an unfair advantage over others !!! He is a champion in
his own right. He has redefined many of
the myths surrounding running and himself especially since the day he ran
45.07sec over 400m, making him the 18th fastest man over one lap of track in
the year and got the "A" qualifying standard for the world
championships; some who could not digest his feat saw him not as "disabled" but
"too-abled" because of the blades he wears.
The man known as blade runner
became the first ever
'differently-abled' athlete to compete using prosthetics running blades in the 2012
Olympic Games, simultaneously making history and raising the debate over fairness and
equality to a whole new platform.
A fierce advocate of Life Without Limitations
and a bilateral amputee, he is the first ever Paralympian to win a Gold in each
of the 100m, 200m and 400m sprints (Beijing 2008).
He for sure is a phenomenon – a world
record holder in his category for the three top sprint events, setting a brand
new record for the 400m in May 2011 at the Paralympic World Cup in Manchester , UK .
Then, in July 2011, he made history in Italy with a personal best of 45.07
seconds for the men's 400m, a result that saw him qualify for the South African
national team and, another first, the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South
Korea (Aug 2011). Here he qualified for the Men´s 400m semi-finals, competing
against non-disabled athletes.
That is Oscar Leonard Carl
Pistorius from South Africa ,
a sprint runner. Pistorius, who has double below-knee amputations, competes in
T44 (single below knee amputees) events though he is actually classified in
T43(double below knee amputee) Although
eligible to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, Pistorius did
not qualify for the South African team.
At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London,
Pistorius became the first double leg amputee to participate in the Olympics
when he entered the men's 400 metres race and was part of South Africa's 4 ×
400 metres relay team. He also took part in the 2012 Summer Paralympics and won gold medals in the men's 400 metre race in
a Paralympic record time of 46.68 seconds and in the 4 × 100 metres relay in a
world record time of 41.78 seconds. He also took a silver in the 200 metres
race, having set a world record of 21.30 seconds in the semifinal.
Now he garnered more attention for his
race against Arabian stud Maserati in Doha ...
and winning. Oscar Pistorius has never baulked at a
challenge; still this was of a different kind. Pistorius outran the Arabian stud over 115metres in the
‘Run Like The Wind’ challenge at the Aspire Zone outdoor circuit. The sprinter,
who was born without the fibula bones in both legs, was taking part in the
Definitely Able campaign to highlight how Paralympians have contributed in
sport.
Pistorius took advantage of his head start
to open up a commanding lead over the horse, Maserati. After the race, Pistorius said: 'It wasnt
about who won today, it was about just coming out here and showing people that
those with disabilities are not to be stereotyped against. The race was not the first time athletes have
competed against horses with some of the most notable champions such as 1936
Olympics hero Jesse Owens and 1992 Olympic 100m gold medallist Linford Christie
also going up against their four-legged friends, who generally out-paced their
human rivals.
Even as the World hails it, some questions have been raised as to whether it
was really a fair race, as Pistorius was given a 15m head start and the horse
was visibly restrained by his rider. The
South African SPCA is reportedly outraged at the treatment of the horse, which
it says was “unnecessarily and cruelly whipped from start to finish.”
Pistorius also said in Doha that he will run for five more years and
then change tack to help raise awareness about landmine victims across the
world.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
19th Dec 2012.
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