Supertraining

Relevant to previous discussions on the list:

http://www.iaaf.org/aboutiaaf/news/newsid=44917.html

Monte-Carlo - The IAAF is pleased to announce that the Court of 
Arbitration for Sport ("CAS") this afternoon has declared that Oscar 
Pistorius (RSA) is eligible to compete in competitions under IAAF 
Rules. 
 
The decision is a culmination of a process in which Mr Pistorius and 
the IAAF have co-operated together to resolve the issue of whether 
the "Cheetah" prostheses Mr Pistorius wears give him an advantage in 
competition.  While the IAAF has been keen to give Mr Pistorius every 
opportunity to participate in its events, it had to deal with some 
concerns that he may be gaining an unfair advantage.  

As a result, in November 2007, Mr Pistorius and the IAAF voluntarily 
engaged in a process of testing under the auspices of Professor 
Brüggemann at the Sportshochschule in Cologne.  Professor Brüggemann 
provided his report in December 2007.  Following this report, the 
IAAF Council took the decision that, because Professor Brüggemann had 
found that the prostheses gave Mr Pistorius an advantage, he was not 
eligible to compete.

Mr Pistorius referred the matter to CAS where further expert advice 
was obtained and reviewed.  The hearing before CAS was conducted in 
an open, constructive and co-operative fashion with all parties keen 
to establish the truth.  

The CAS Panel has today delivered its decision.  It has decided that, 
at the moment, not enough is known scientifically to be able to prove 
that Mr Pistorius obtains an advantage from the use of the 
prostheses.  Consequently, it has cleared him to run.  

President Lamine Diack has made the following comment:

"The IAAF accepts the decision of CAS and Oscar will be welcomed 
wherever he competes this summer.  He is an inspirational man and we 
look forward to admiring his achievements in the future."

=========================
Jamie Carruthers
Wakefield, UK

> The below was recently published on the IAAF website:
> 
> Oscar Pistorius - Independent Scientific study concludes that 
cheetah
> prosthetics offer clear mechanical advantages
> Monday 14 January 2008
> 
> Monte Carlo - The IAAF has received the results of an independent
> scientific study carried out by Professor Peter Brüggemann at the
> German Sport University in Cologne. This study made a biomechanical
> and physiological analysis of long sprint running by a double
> transtibial amputee athlete Oscar Pistorius (RSA) using "cheetah"
> prosthetics, and also compared this athlete with five able-bodied
> athletes who are capable of similar levels of performance at 400m.
> 
> The tests, which took place on Monday 12 and Tuesday 13 November in
> the Institute of Biomechanics and Orthopaedics, were initiated by 
the
> IAAF with the approval and participation of Oscar in order to see
> whether the prosthetics used by him should be considered as 
technical
> aids which give him an advantage over other athletes not using them,
> in contravention of IAAF competition rule 144.2.*
> 
> The objective results of this study are that:
> 
> - Pistorius was able to run with his prosthetic blades at the same
> speed as the able-bodied sprinters with about 25% less energy
> expenditure. As soon as a given speed is reached, running with the
> prosthetics needs less additional energy than running with natural
> limbs.
> 
> - Once the physiological potential of Oscar Pistorius and the able-
> bodied control athletes had been estimated, using three different
> methods, it is clear that Pistorius' potential was not higher than
> that of the controls, even though their performance results were
> similar.
> 
> - The biomechanical analysis demonstrated major differences in the
> sprint mechanics used by a below-knee amputee using prosthetics when
> compared to athletes with natural legs. The maximum vertical ground
> reaction forces and the vertical impulses are different in a highly
> significant way and the amount of energy return of the prosthetic
> blade have never been reported for a human muscle driven ankle joint
> in sprint running.
> 
> - The positive work, or returned energy, from the prosthetic blade 
is
> close to three times higher than with the human ankle joint in
> maximum sprinting.
> 
> - The energy loss in the prosthetic blade was measured at 9.3% 
during
> the stance phase while the average energy loss in the ankle joint of
> the able bodied control athletes was measured at 41.4%. This means
> that the mechanical advantage of the blade in relation to the 
healthy
> ankle joint of an able bodied athlete is higher than 30%.
> 
> It is evident that an athlete using the Cheetah prosthetic is able 
to
> run at the same speed as able bodied athletes with lower energy
> consumption. Running with prosthetic blades leads to less vertical
> motion combined with less mechanical work for lifting the body. As
> well as this, the energy loss in the blade is significantly lower
> than in the human ankle joints in sprinting at maximum speed. An
> athlete using this prosthetic blade has a demonstrable mechanical
> advantage (more than 30%) when compared to someone not using the
> blade.
> 
> IAAF Council has been able to review the full report and has decided
> that the prosthetic blades known as "cheetahs" should be considered
> as technical aids in clear contravention of IAAF Rule 144.2. As a
> result, Oscar Pistorius is not eligible to compete in competitions
> organised under IAAF Rules.
> 
> Note for editors concerning test procedures and parameters:
> 
> - Analysis was carried out by a team of more than 10 scientists,
> including staff from the physiology laboratory of Professor J. 
Mester
> (Institute of Training Science and Sport Informatics).
> 
> - 12 high speed cameras (250 frames per second) were used to record
> 3D kinematics, with another 4 highspeed cameras to observe sagittal
> plane motion
> 
> - Force platforms were used to record ground reaction forces and
> point of force application
> 
> - Athletes ran the 400m test with a K4 mask to record max VO2. VO2
> testing was also carried out in the laboratory (Wingate and Ramp
> Test) on static bicycles. Blood lactate records were taken regularly
> 
> - A 3D scanner was used to record body mass and anthropometric
> measures of all the control athletes
> 
> - The prosthetics were also subjected to material testing
> 
> * IAAF Rule 144.2 extract
> 
> Relates to the use of" technical aids" during competition
> 
> =============================
> Jamie Carruthers
> Wakefield, UK
>