Olympic athletes are known for their discipline, training, and hard work. Their finely toned bodies are considered the height of physical perfection. But this year’s Olympics features an athlete whose physical form looks a bit different: Oscar Pistorius, a South African runner, is a double leg amputee.
Oscar Pistorius is known as the “fastest man on no legs,” and the “Blade Runner,” for the blade-like prosthetics he uses while running.
Pistorius was born without his fibula, the bone between the knee and the ankle. He had a double amputation below the knee, which made it easier for him to learn to walk on prosthetics.
Growing up, his parents never treated him differently than his siblings. In fact, in the mornings his mother would say, “Carl put on your shoes. Oscar you put on your prosthetic legs, and that’s the last I want to hear about it.” It’s not a surprise then that wearing prosthetics didn’t stop Pistorius from participating in school sports, like tennis, water polo, and rugby.
In 2003 he began running to recover from a knee injury, and in 2004 went to the Athens Paralympics and won gold for the 200 meter, breaking the world record for his class.
Because he was improving so much, he wanted to compete against able-bodied athletes. At first he wasn’t allowed to, but eventually the rule was reversed, making it possible for him to compete in this year’s Olympics.
Pistorius probably won’t win a medal (his personal best on the 400 is 45.07 seconds; the world record is 43.18) but you can bet everyone will still be watching him. His story is an inspirational triumph of the human will and ability.
But I also like this story because it reminds me that our society’s obsession over physical perfection is unfounded. We continue to develop more sophisticated prenatal testing to identify birth defects and other conditions, but too often that data isn’t used to help unborn children, but as an excuse to abort them and “try again.” For example, about 90% of fetuses identified as having Down syndrome are aborted.
The reason for the abortion is often concern that the child won’t have a good “quality of life,” yet who can say what someone’s life will be like? Pistorius’s parents would no doubt have been satisfied if he had been able to live a “normal” life from a wheel chair, and were happy that he could do so with prosthetics. But who could have predicted a double leg amputee would make it to the Olympics? For running?
Even if a person can’t achieve an earthly measure of success that doesn’t mean their life isn’t worth living. The Church teaches us that “the dignity of the human person is rooted in his creation in the image and likeness of God” (CCC 1700). The value of our life and worthiness as a person isn’t tied to our accomplishments or abilities, but is intrinsic to our nature, a gift from God that no one can take away.
So when as you’re watching the Olympics, by all means, be amazed by the athletic prowess of the athletes, but don’t forget that we shouldn’t judge the value of human life by such standards.
Oscar Pistorius will be running in the men’s 4×400 and 4×400 relay on August 4 and August 9.
He’ll also be running in the Paralympic games, which begin August 29.
First published in Life-Teen by Megan Bodenschatz
Megan will read anything that stands still long enough. She also loves going to the movies, meeting people from other countries, and spending time with her 16 cousins. She usually win the “Youngest-Person-at-Daily-Mass Award” whenever she goes.