Supertraining

Below is a summary of replies from the Biomch-L:

Dear all,

As a member of the team conducting the first biomechanical tests 
with  
Oscar Pistorius in Cologne last November, I am posting this in 
behalf  
of our group.

With large interest we followed the conversation in this community  
before and after our tests. The discussion about possible test  
regimes last summer helped us a lot to design our protocol after the  
IAAF asked us to analyse Oscar Pistorius' sprinting mechanics in the  
phase of maximal sprinting velocity.

Due to reasons of confidentiality we decided not to participate in  
the online discussion. We felt it was not appropriate to publish 
data  
before a final decision was made (data, which has been made  
accessible for public was neither published by us nor was the  
publication authorized by our institute). We are very pleased to see  
the large interest in the community. A short version of the study is  
submitted for publication in the Journal of Sports Technology. We 
are  
currently working on the reviewer comments. The article will 
probably  
be published this summer. We are planning to publish a more 
elaborate  
article later.

Thank you very much for participating in this discussion and for  
sharing thoughts and ideas!

Wolfgang Potthast

=====================

We, the scientific group that has refuted the claims of the IAAF,  
believe that it is relevant to make the following points based on  
recent commentary from the Biomch-L list regarding the CAS's ruling  
to overturn the IAAF's decision that banned Oscar Pistorius from  
international able-bodied competition:

1. The work conducted by our group was done pro bono. None of us  
received compensation for our research or participation in the  
hearing. The legal team selected our group from many other willing  
scientists. All of us were screened and cleared for any potential  
conflicts of interest by the lawyers. In addition, Rodger Kram and  
Hugh Herr were judged to not have any conflict of interest by the 
CAS  
court.
2. Our group of scientists was asked to evaluate the scientific  
claims made by the IAAF that resulted in the banning of Oscar 
Pistorius.
3. We evaluated the claims by using data from the literature, as 
well  
as our own data collected at Rice University.
4. As Ton has stated, this ruling applies only to Oscar and to the  
Cheetah prosthetics, thus any new prosthetic running technology will  
have to be re-evaluated before being allowed in IAAF competition.
5. We plan to publish the data that we have collected in a peer- 
reviewed journal as soon as possible.
6. We hope that the interest in the Oscar Pistorius case will result  
in a number of further studies into questions regarding the  
biomechanical and energetic effects of prosthetics on human walking  
and running.

Our group includes Drs. Hugh Herr, Peter Weyand, Rodger Kram, 
Matthew  
Bundle, Craig McGowan, and Alena Grabowski.

Alena Grabowski, PhD
Postdoctoral Associate
_____________________________________

Dr. Wolfgang Potthast
German Sport University Cologne
Institute of Biomechanics and Orthopaedics

This is an very interesting discussion.  I am also eager to see the 
data 
used as the evidence to support Oscar Pistorius.  What we need to 
demonstrate in this case is whether Oscar Pistorius has advantages 
over 
himself with an able-body, instead of whether he has advantages over 
other able-bodied athletes.  Could we scientifically demonstrate that 
for sure now?  If we could not, then I just don't think he should be 
allowed to compete with able-bodied athletes.

Bing Yu, PhD

===========================
Dear All,

Following up on the thoughts of Dr. Willems and others, the 
prosthetic  
limbs that Oscar Pistorius puts to successful use are purpose-built.  
They are wonderfully effective at running, but may not fair so well 
at  
dancing, jumping, skipping, stair climbing, driving an automobile,  
pushing a stroller, taking an autumn stroll through the falling  
leaves, fishing in a stream, shoveling snow, etc. As humanists we 
all  
marvel at Oscar's strengths, of character, and of athleticism. As  
biomechanists, we may also marvel at the ability to optimize  
sophisticated materials for a single-purpose. But as biomechanists, 
we  
must acknowledge, how far away we really are from duplicating the  
marvels of function of the human body. Most athletes train to excel 
at  
a relatively finite number of events... just like Mr. Pistorius.  
However, those that are able-bodied, routinely retain the ability to  
accomplish activities of daily living. Perhaps the concept of 
defining  
success in building a "replacement of an original part of the body  
which is absent" is the biomechanical question.

Thanks, Kevin

Kevin A. Ball PhD
Assistant Professor
University of Hartford

========================

I agree with Chris and Ton that the issues here are not 
biomechanical. They
are about what constitutes fair competition and hence the issues are 
about
the ethics of sport.

Can I remind readers of the e-mail Chris sent to the list last year
http://flyingjumper.com/homeflash.html. Here are a pair of devices 
that are
not all that dissimilar from modern energy returning prostheses but 
designed
to be worn by an able bodied person. How would the IAAF react to an 
able
bodied athlete turning up for competition wearing these? From the 
video
there is a distinct suggestion that high jump records might be at 
stake (or
maybe not if you subtract the height of the device from the height of 
the
jump).

To my mind if you want to introduce aids whether they be prostheses or
wheelchairs into sport you have a different competition (not 
necessarily
superior or inferior, just different). The simplest example of this 
is that
if you allow a crutch during a high jump competition then you will 
end up
with the pole vault. 

Which brings us back to the new Speedo swimwear - should all athletes 
be
required to perform naked?

Richard

Richard Baker PhD CEng CSci
Director Gait CCRE/Gait Analysis Service manager

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