Monday 3 September 2012

Paralympics: Science vs Pistorius' claims

Over at The Science of Sport blog, there an excellent breakdown of Oscar Pistorius' critical comments about his defeat by Alan Oliveira in the men's T44 200m. Based on this analysis (by a South African blog, no less), it seems that Pistorius was using flawed logic when he made his claims about the unfairness of Oliveira's stride length.

"So, a simple count shows that Pistorius has longer strides than Alan, and they are consistently longer - on the bend, and in the straight, for those who are wondering. It's Oliveira who "can't compete with Oscar's stride length".  His faster speed, then, is the result of faster leg movement, because speed, as you will appreciate, is the result of stride length and stride rate."

It's an excellent and very detailed read, and worth looking at before diving into the debate that Pistorius has started.

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