The Olympics and Paralympics have proved hypnotic, providing real life drama and bringing a whole nation together in proud support of our own athletes and those from around the globe.
I admit to being a little cynical about the games and the real value of them in the current climate, but I have to say they have been a revelation. What I did find a little disappointing, however, was the reaction of Paralympian Oscar Pistorius after he was beaten in the T44 200m final by Brazil’s Alan Fonteles Oliveira. In a track-side interview immediately after the race Oscar said the rules governing artificial limbs needed addressing as he said they had given an unfair advantage to Oliveira. He did apologise later, but only for the timing of his protest.
He said: “The International Paralympic Committee’s regulations allow the athletes to make themselves unbelievably high. We tried to address the issue leading up to this but it fell on deaf ears. The guys are running ridiculous times. Alan is a great athlete but I run just over 10 metres per second so I don’t know how you come back from eight metres behind after 100 metres to win. We’re not running a fair race.”
The powers that be deemed it a fair race, it was only Pistorius, who has become so used to winning and perhaps is just so incredulous he has been beaten, that he feels the need to complain.
I thought it was amazing that Pistorius competed in both the Olympics and the Paralympics and he should be immensely proud of this achievement. Oliveira has only done what Pistorius himself has done to so many other athletes in the past: run faster than the rest of the field.
I don’t profess to know about the precise help provided by prosthetics and the many different categories of the Paralympics, but I can see and understand that nature provides some people with major advantages: take Usain Bolt, and that manufacturers and sportspeople will always be looking out for ever quicker artificial limbs.
I can understand the huge frustration at losing out on the Gold to Oliveira, but to spoil the moment and create a bad taste in the mouth of the Paralympics was not befitting one of the faces of the 2012 Games.
Hopefully he will see this himself, accept he made a mistake and move on from it. For what has been so wonderful about the Paralympics, even more so I think than with the Olympics (and I didn’t think that possible), is seeing the glorious reaction of the Paralympians to competing at London 2012 – whether they have won a medal or not.
The amazing sport and spirit of the Olympics and Paralympics has made a massive difference this summer. I, for one, am grateful for it.