Able-Bodied/Disabled: Heroes Blur the Distinction

Posted October 27th, 2007 at 4:30 PM by Jimmie R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Motivation, Success Stories

Oscar Pistorius, the South African 400m sprinter who made headlines earlier this year for running blazing-fast times in spite of being a double amputee, has said that he doesn’t consider himself disabled. His motto is, “You’re not disabled by the disabilities you have, you are able by the abilities you have.” Ironically, he has been criticized for having an unfair advantage over his competitors who happen to have two legs. His critics specifically point out that the prosthetic legs “he uses are longer than is necessary, allowing him to cover more ground in each stride, and that they are not subject to lactic acid build-up that slows down ordinary athletes.” The IAAF, the world’s governing body for Track & Field, has been at the forefront of this criticism directed against him. They are still trying to determine whether or not to allow him to run in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing if he should qualify.

Now Amy Palmiero-Winters, a single mother of two from Hicksville, NY is in the news for having won the 2007 Runners World Peoples Choice Heroes of Running award. Palmiero-Winters, a marathoner and triathlete who lost her left leg below the knee following a 1994 motorcycle accident, recently ran the Chicago Marathon and set a new BK (”below knee”, meaning amputated below the knee) world record by more than 22 minutes. She won 1st place among BK women and was 148th overall female out of 14,720 female competitors. Her time put her in the top 1% of all female able-bodied competitors in the race. Palmiero-Winters’ website states that, “in April of 2007, Amy will run the Boston marathon, with a goal of breaking the 3 hour mark. Should she succeed, she will be the first amputee in history to legitimately compete with elite able bodied athletes.”

Both runners are blurring the distinction between able-bodied and disabled athletes. Both athletes offer hope and inspiration, not only to disabled athletes, but to the entire running community. Both athletes prove that most limitations truly are self-imposed and can, with hard work, dedication and a single-mindedness of belief, be overcome by just about anyone. In this correspondent’s estimation, both athletes are the epitome of heroism.

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