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Hollywoodaction
Joined: 02 Jul 2004
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cangel
Joined: 19 Jun 2003
Location: Jeonju, S. Korea
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 Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:03 pm Post subject: |
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| He should not be allowed to compete with artificial limbs. That's what the paralypics are for. |
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Alyallen
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Location: The 4th Greatest Place on Earth = Jeonju!!!
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| Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:15 pm Post subject: |
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| cangel wrote: |
| He should not be allowed to compete with artificial limbs. That's what the paralypics are for. |
Well professional athletes should compete in the Olympics but they are there. As far as I'm concerned, the Olympics opened the door to other unconventional athletes. And besides, he isn't faster than most able bodied men and what he's doing isn't more effortless, so I personally don't see the controversy. |
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cangel
Joined: 19 Jun 2003
Location: Jeonju, S. Korea
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| Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:21 pm Post subject: |
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| I agree that professional athletes should not compete. These sharkskin body suits that swimmers wear should also be banned. The article said that the legs would be evaluated to determine any advantage artificial limbs give him, if any. What's next, bionic eyes for blind people? Maybe artificial sling arms for discus throwers. It's Pandora's Box, and better left closed. |
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Alyallen
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Location: The 4th Greatest Place on Earth = Jeonju!!!
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| Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:26 pm Post subject: |
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| cangel wrote: |
| I agree that professional athletes should not compete. These sharkskin body suits that swimmers wear should also be banned. The article said that the legs would be evaluated to determine any advantage artificial limbs give him, if any. What's next, bionic eyes for blind people? Maybe artificial sling arms for discus throwers. It's Pandora's Box, and better left closed. |
And it's already open. I've read a bunch of articles about this whole situation and it sounds like he has a more difficult time starting a race than a runner with 2 legs. I'm not even going to bother going into the hypothetical. At this point, prosthetics are not 100% replacements for the real deal... |
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ddeubel
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 4:22 am Post subject: |
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I posted a thread a few months ago about this but happy to see another. Great issue, challenging issue on a personal level for all of us. It is not just a question of "Olympics" , it is a question of learning to embrace and enjoy the success of others, however far down the hole they've come.
Good post and I hope others will add their own thoughts, This issue touches us all, we are all a step away and towards it.
DD |
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freshking
Joined: 07 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:22 am Post subject: |
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| I think that if we are going to try to keep the integrity of Olympic sports then this man needs to be left out of the games. It's true that a Pandora's box would be opened that could blur the lines between man and machine in the future. |
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Alyallen
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Location: The 4th Greatest Place on Earth = Jeonju!!!
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 3:00 pm Post subject: |
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| freshking wrote: |
| I think that if we are going to try to keep the integrity of Olympic sports then this man needs to be left out of the games. It's true that a Pandora's box would be opened that could blur the lines between man and machine in the future. |
The integrity of the games? HA!
People swap countries just so they can be in the Olympics especially if they have pissed off the Olympic committee of their home country (look up Jamaica's Merlene Ottey and the 2004 games) or their country doesn't have the money or resources (The silver medalist in the 100m backstroke or some crap like that won the medal for France but isn't actually French). Let's talk about Nancy and Tanya. Professional athletes participating in an AMATEUR sporting festival (U.S.A basketball, Soccer, baseball etc.) Or the doping scandals of the last 20 years....People want to take home a shiny medal no matter what...And THAT is when the Olympics lost its integrity for me.
I'd rather have a dude running on metal who is putting in 120% than a medal chaser or doper any day.... |
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freshking
Joined: 07 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 10:17 pm Post subject: |
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| The integrity of the games? HA! |
Easy there turtle,
Maybe I should rephrase to look at the bigger picture here. The integrity of sports in general is at risk if people begin to enhance themselves mechanically or chemically. Of course it's already happening chemically. Maybe this man isn't faster than the top able bodied athletes, but somewhere in the not too distant future that could change. Where do we draw the line? There are strict rules in sports about the allowed equipment for a reason. I could go on all day about ways that people could cheat if allowed to modify their sports equipment. Let's just try to keep things as simple as possible. I think that's the best solution. The bottom line is that he should be in the paralympics.
BTW, the US only sent in professional athletes after their college athletes started getting run over by veteran professional athletes from competing countries. Not that it was the right thing to do, but again this proves my point that a line has to be drawn before things really get freakish and out of control. I don't want to watch "Battlebots presents the 2042 Olympic Games" when I'm an old man. |
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FUBAR
Joined: 21 Oct 2003
Location: The Y.C.
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 10:36 pm Post subject: |
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I'm divided on this. The Olympics are all about the spirit of the games. However, some experts are noticing that there is less resistance to a runner with articial limbs so, I'm not sure if he should be allowed on that basis.
Is technology getting to a point where athletes with artifial limbs become able to beat the best able bodied athletes? Not yet.... But, what happens when technology gets to that point? |
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Alyallen
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Location: The 4th Greatest Place on Earth = Jeonju!!!
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 10:55 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm not a big fan of the Olympics in any event. At this present junction, the man's artifical limbs are not equal to that of a human's. So, in my opinion, in this case, for this person, at this time, he should be able to go if he can run his distance in the time necessary to be eligible. |
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Tony_Balony
Joined: 12 Apr 2007
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| Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 12:10 am Post subject: |
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| Hi, I'm not going to weigh in on the debate, I just want to compliment the healthcare industry on this development. Its truely remarkable. Good post. |
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