Unfair Advantage, Unfair Disadvantage

According to a recent CNN article, South African runner Oscar Pistorius is now eligible for international competition, including the Olympics. Why is this a big deal? Because he has no legs below the knee, and runs with the help of two prosthetic devices. Until recently he was barred from international competition due to a standard that barred any athlete "deemed to benefit from artificial help" from competing. This rule has recently been clarified as not applying to medically necessary prosthetic devices (it is meant to apply to athletes gaining unfair advantage from spring-loaded shoes or suchlike).

A mighty blow for the handicapped athlete? Yes, but...I think it's wrong.

Don't get me wrong. I'm very much in favor of people using whatever resources they can (legally and morally) get their hands on to overcome any challenges they may face. I just don't think that should apply to sport.

Here's my reasoning: The idea behind international athletics (as I understand it) is to determine who is the best. In the setting of this level of sport as it exists today, "best" means most able due to a combination of natural ability and hard work to develop that ability. In other words, if you don't have the natural ability, tough luck.

This ruling, like the Casey Martin decision (the golfer who sued to be able to ride a cart in PGA games due to a disability) significantly alters high-level competition to accomodate a player's natural INability. Competitions of this nature are supposed to be about ability. Based on this sort of reasoning, powerlifters who are tall should be able to lift their weight from a raised platform (otherwise they have to move it farther than their short competitors). Kaiser Andy should be able to play in the NBA, and bring a stepladder. Yankee John should be able to be a professional jockey--riding a horse on steroids to compensate for being somewhat larger than most jockeys. I should be able to play NFL football--on a dirtbike since I can't run that fast (and with a net since I can't catch, and a gun since I can't hit, and...). You get the idea.

Obviously these are ludicrous examples, but my point is that scientific advantage is scientific advantage. If we're going to make such a big stink about steroids, if marijuana is considered a performance-enhancing drug, if you can't wear Z-coils, then how can you possibly justify bioengineered special running legs?