Cool Running

Nancy Gibbs wrote about the moral puzzle regarding Oscar Pistorious. Pistorious is a South Africa runner who won gold in the 200 meters at the Athens Paralympics in 2004. Pistorious planned to compete in Olympics in Beijing in 2008 but was banned from participating because he had his lower legs amputated when he was a year old. Pistorious use of prosthetic limbs caused the International of Athletes Federation (IAAF) to disqualify Pistorius from Olympic competition.  Gibbs used an ethical approach to examine the issue because that story has two faces. First, if a person has a disability the mean that person couldn’t have athlete’s dreams, because will be banned for use technology and that will be considered an advantage. Second, if the person has a natural talent, that person needs to be banner, because competition required equal participant.

I have mixed emotions as to whether the decision to ban Pistorious was right or wrong. Pistorius’ situation is an ethical issue of whether natural talent outweighs technological advantage.