Well done Dave Weir, god the biceps you need for that!

 

Ha the brazilian took three more strides !

 

Went to watch the basketball last night - GB vs Columbia. Brilliant atmosphere and fantastic skill. The cable car over the Thames to the O2 was pretty cool too. The family all enjoyed it. Come on GB!

 

Awesomeness. Got tickets for Santa pod and also for the closing ceremony next Sunday.
Will aim to get to the pod for 930am, stay till approx 200/230pm then head on down to the Olympic park for about 5pm. Hit the bars outside for an hour or two then mosey on in. We are on a level 1 block row 3. About as close to the stage as you can get :-). Will post up photos etc as and when.

 

When Oscar first started there were representations from non disabled athletes to say that he had an unfair advantage from the action on the blades. That was apparently all cleared up.

Seems to me that if there is some residual spring in the blades, more than you would get from the reaction of a normal foot, then the blades do indeed give the user an advantage.

If that is the same for everyone in a paraplegic event in that the blades were tested for the amount of spring they had and that they were all the same-then the result will depend on the sheer athletic capability of the competitors which is how it should be of course.

In that race where Oscar was beaten, if those blades used by the winner had more spring due to their extra length then the result is unfair as Oscar is saying. In a race where blades are used,they should be tested for the amount of spring and if there are competitors not relying on blades, then the blades being used should have no spring built into them at all.

It is worth noticing that Oscar was quick to give genuine congratulations to the winner after the race,however although he was right to bring up the subject of unequal advantage from blades, he made a tactical error in mentioning it to the interviewer rather than privately to the authorities after the event. Probably an understandable mistake.

He may well of course made a rod for his own back by bringing up the question of possible advantages to be gained by using blades.