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No ordinary runner Oscar Pistorius

Oscar Pistorius ran the 100-metre race in 10.91 seconds and would like to compete in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Big deal, you might say, when the world record is 9.74 seconds. However, Oscar Pistorius is no ordinary runner: he is a double amputee. His lightweight, j-shaped carbon prosthetic legs (“cheetahs”) make him almost as fast as his able-bodied peers, and he is emblematic of the progress disabled athletes have made in athletics and public estimation.

Athletics for disabled people is a young idea born out of the need to help the wounded soldiers of World War II. Sir Ludwig Guttman in 1944 at Stoke Mandeville introduced sports as treatment for the disabled. In 1948, the first Stoke Mandeville games for paraplegics took place in 1948 for wheelchair athletes. International athletes first took part in 1952. In 1960, these games, later called the Paralympics, began to coincide with the International Olympic Games. Since 1976, the International Paralympic Games take place at the same venue as the International Olympic Games. The Paralympics are not to be confused with the Special Olympics for athletes with intellectual disabilities.

The ultimate argument for sports and exercise for the disabled is the increase in life expectancy and quality of life. For example, active wheelchair users have fewer hospital admissions, pressure sores and kidney ailments than do their sedentary peers. Apart from the physical benefits, the psychological benefits of being active and less dependent on others are immeasurable.

Not every disabled person can become Pistorius. With the help of health professionals and knowledgeable coaches, all disabled people can do some exercise that will make their lives better.

Disabled athletes are more likely to suffer injury from the wrong kind of exercise - that makes getting the right advice essential.

There are few studies on injuries in disabled athletes caused by exercise, so one cannot offer much evidence-based guidance on this matter. Common sense says that if it hurts, stop doing it. It is important to keep expectations reasonable.

Exercise is never the cure for a permanent disability, but no disabled person should be without a tailor-made prescription of exercise and physical rehabilitation.

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