As discussed during an episode of Radio Crass, Oscar Pistorius (aka “The Blade Runner”) is a South African runner with a disability: he’s a double amputee with both legs removed above the knee. He can run by wearing not mere prosthetic legs, but special curved carbon fibre “blades”. And with those blades, he has not only been able to run faster than any other man in the history of the Paralympics but fast enough to qualify for the real Olympics. In fact, he made the semi-finals of the 400m race at the recent London Olympics, but came last in his semi-final (although had he repeated his best time, he would have made the final). Continue reading