Over the past couple of months, track and field has been hit with several PR Nightmares in the news media, and the last being of course the Marion Jones Case. Now, it seems like track and field is in the news again, but for possibly another PR Nightmare situation on the behalf of the International Association of Athletics Federations, or also known as the IAAF.
There are times where I think that the track and field community in general is not really setting their priorities straight. Today is one of those times. The IAAF ruled today that South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius, an amputee sprinter, will not be able to compete in the Olympics that will be held later this year in Beijing.
South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius is an amputee sprinter and runs with curved, prosthetic “Cheetah” blades, and the IAAF stated that his blades are considered to be a “technical aid” and would give him an advantage over other athletes.
Okay, track and field is really getting their key messages mixed up. They are not allowing an athlete to compete in the Olympics because he is an amputee, but what about the athletes that are using performance enhancing drugs who might make it to the Olympics? Don’t they fit into this category of having “an advantage” over the other athletes?
This ruling to me doesn’t make much sense because there needs to be a defining rule that is regulated among all athletes. The problem that track and field is facing is the fact that they are not being consistent in terms of their rulings– and they need to do that. All athletes have to play and compete on an equal playing field– period.
These are just some of my thoughts on this situation. Hope you all are having a great day! 🙂
Best Wishes,
Karen 🙂
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