tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32776756.post5003732015420664699..comments2023-10-20T18:03:01.821+09:00Comments on GlobalTalk 21: People Rooting for Oscar Pistorius Need to Do some ThinkingJun Okumurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00291478225274759649noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32776756.post-71641138102261219032012-08-18T14:55:42.053+09:002012-08-18T14:55:42.053+09:00Janne:
“That's what the "fixed shoe desi...Janne:<br /><br />“That's what the "fixed shoe design" - and "fixed, equal uniform" I guess - is all about. Everybody gets the same standard equipment, no exceptions allowed.”<br /><br />That’s the idea with starting blocks, hurdles, vaulting poles, etc. So we’re no longer talking about the wide variety of amputees. So we are agreed that Pistorius cannot compete in a regular race, and that people with two complete legs would find the equipment for a race that Pistorius could run in inconvenient.<br /><br />“The "passive" thing really is that there should be no stored energy in the device prior to the start of the competition. You want to load a spring or charge a flywheel while you sprint, then be my guest, but it has to happen during the race, not before. And yes, you can probably think of corner cases, but that's what pre-race evaluations are all about, like they already are for motorsports and many other sports besides.”<br /><br />Rifle and skeet are exceptions, no?<br /><br />“High-jump, by the way - isn't pole vault exactly high-jump with (one class of) passive devices allowed?”<br /><br />Yes.Jun Okumurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00291478225274759649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32776756.post-47660554057781312622012-08-10T09:47:20.769+09:002012-08-10T09:47:20.769+09:00That's what the "fixed shoe design" ...That's what the "fixed shoe design" - and "fixed, equal uniform" I guess - is all about. Everybody gets the same standard equipment, no exceptions allowed.<br /><br />The "passive" thing really is that there should be no stored energy in the device prior to the start of the competition. You want to load a spring or charge a flywheel while you sprint, then be my guest, but it has to happen during the race, not before. And yes, you can probably think of corner cases, but that's what pre-race evaluations are all about, like they already are for motorsports and many other sports besides.<br /><br />High-jump, by the way - isn't pole vault exactly high-jump with (one class of) passive devices allowed?Jan Morenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06834641501438709866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32776756.post-45755787652696529542012-08-08T14:46:10.614+09:002012-08-08T14:46:10.614+09:00Jan:
It is actually difficult to make a categoric...Jan:<br /><br />It is actually difficult to make a categorical distinction between “pure” and “equipment,” as your “common, fixed shoe design” and “passive device or gadget” suggestions themselves demonstrate. For what are shoes if not passive devices or gadgets, in the sense that they enhance performance? Likewise, aerodynamically designed track uniforms using high-tech material can shave off hundredths of seconds off your time—no small thing in sprint races. And is something “passive” as long as it does not have any spinning or swiveling parts? But the Olympic bow spins on an axis. How about three-meter stilts for the high jump? In fact, most “passive devices or gadgets,” including swimwear, are regulated in an attempt to level the playing field as much as possible where any artifact that may enhance the performance of the human body. (Glasses and contact lenses are a prominent exception.) The problem with the enhancement of handicapped body parts is that handicaps come in all shapes and sizes, which fact renders them inhospitable to standardized regulation. Missing two legs? One? Below or above the knee? Half a foot? Just a toe? The Paralympics can make do with broad categories, because they are more of a participatory event than one for spectators. And that’s where prosthetics ultimately belong.Jun Okumurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00291478225274759649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32776756.post-19233928389710595592012-08-07T23:15:35.987+09:002012-08-07T23:15:35.987+09:00Allow the legs - for all sprinters (they are appar...Allow the legs - for all sprinters (they are apparently usable and useful whether you have legs or not). <br /><br />Create two separate classes, one "pure", where nothing is allowed (perhaps even standardize on a common, fixed shoe design); and one "equipment" where any passive device or gadget is OK, for able-bodied and disabled athletes alike.<br /><br />You have similar splits in other sports already: archery has classes for traditional and extreme bows, and skiing has separate classes for traditional style and newfangled skating style, just to take two examples.Jan Morenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06834641501438709866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32776756.post-59445337095478020922012-08-07T22:20:29.167+09:002012-08-07T22:20:29.167+09:00Japan must not increase the shouhizei. And everyon...Japan must not increase the shouhizei. And everyone must immediately uphold my three yeses.Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02811318998915341210noreply@blogger.com