So often in sport one person will say one thing, while another will say the complete opposite. It appears that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) are sending out different messages.
The IPC has said that Oscar Pistorius will be banned from participating at the Rio Paralympic Games in 2016 even if he does not have to serve his full five year jail sentence for the shooting of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
The IOC however are refusing to comment on the possibility of him taking part at the able-bodied games. To complicate matters further the organisers of the Rio 2016 Games have said he “will be welcome in Brazil like anyone else.”
Pistorius was the first double amputee to compete in the Olympic Games in London in 2012 and his participation after a long battle, garnered a great deal of publicity. He was not the only athlete with a disability who competed in London, although the others did not share the limelight despite some outstanding performances. For example South Korean archer Im Dong Hyun, who has 10 percent vision in his left eye and 20 percent his right, set the first world record of the 2012 Games, and his team walked away with a bronze medal. Polish table tennis player Natalia Partyka, who was born without a right hand or forearm, also took part in the London Games which were her second consecutive Olympic Games.
In fact it is believed that at least 11 disabled athletes had participated in the Games prior to Pistorius.
One of the most remarkable of these would have to American gymnast George Eyser, who won three gold medals, two silvers and one bronze at the St. Louis Games in 1904. Apart from the fact that he won all of these medals in one day what made his achievements particularly impressive was that his left leg was made of wood. His leg had been amputated after he was run over by a train, although some sources say he was attacked by a wild animal that bit his leg and infected it leading to amputation.
Another South African to compete before Pistorius was the swimmer Natalie du Toit, who lost her left leg in a traffic accident, and who participated in the 10 km swimming marathon at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and finished 16th.
We have to wait and see if the IOC follow the IPC. That is of course if Pistorius is released early and achieves the qualifying times.
