Data Suggests Amputee Sprinters Not at a Biomechanical Advantage

Interest has risen significantly in studying the biomechanics of amputee athletes since Oscar Pistorius’s historic bid to be a part of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Oscar Pistorius is a double below the knee amputee who runs with the aid of Cheetah Flex-Foot prosthetic feet.
In a new study published in Biology Letters, the researchers gathered biomechanical data from unilateral amputees and from able-bodied sprinters. Interestingly, they discovered that the prosthetic leg generated a 9 percent lower ground reactive force, one of the primary determinants of running top speed, than the unaffected leg.
The conclusions from initial data from the time of the controversy stated that amputee runners were at an advantage. However, those opinions are being disproven as new data is painting a clearer picture that, if anything, these runners suffer a disadvantage.
Abstract: Running-specific prostheses limit ground-force during sprinting
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