OVERCOMING THE ADVERSITIES. (Athletic)

“I am no different; I happen to have no legs”…

                                                                                       Oscar Pistorius

Chilhood Problems

Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius was born on November 22^nd , 1986 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Son of Henk and Sheila Pistorius; Oscar was the middle child of three. His family, while prominent in South Africa, was largely middle class. (biography.com). his childhood was shaped partly by tragedies because his parents divorced when he was 6 years old. Later his mother died when he was 15, as a result of drug complications. (wikipedia).

Physical Health

Pistorius was marred at birth; he was born without a fibula in either of his legs; his parents got the difficult decision to have their son`s legs amputated below his knees just before his first birthday (biography).  Pistorius was walking successfully with a pair of prosthetic legs. His handicap hardly slowed his large interest in sports, which spanned from cricket to wrestling to boxing.

It was not until he was 16, and, in need of a sport that could help him rehab a knee following a rugby injury, that Pistorius was introduced to track.

Trajectory

His rise in the sport came quickly. In January 2004, he competed in his first 100 meter race; eight-months later pistorius wearing a pair of flex-foot cheetahs, a light-weight carbon fiber foot; he captured the gold medal in the 20 meters race at the 2004 Athens Paralympics (oscarpistorius.biography).But the artificial legs of pistorius have been a source of controversy throughout much of his athletic career.

In 2007, the International Association of Athletic Foundations, the world wide body that governs international competition, banned pistorius from competing, stating that his artificial legs gave him an unfair advantage over able bodies’ athletes in the competition. Along the way, pistorius, who has been nicknamed “Blade Runner” and has been called the “fastest man on no legs”.

He got 3 gold medals at the 2011 IPC athletic world championships. He has gotten many others titles at the large of his life. He became the first amputee athlete to compete in the Olympics (es.wikipedia.org)

Pistorius was accused of killing to his girlfriend Reeva Steen Kamp`s in February 14^th, 2013, because he confused her with a thief (noticias24)

Pistorius admitted unintentionally shooting Steen Kamp at his home on Valentine’s Day.

He was guilty and he went to prison but later he was acquitted under free conditional, paying a surety of $113,000 by lack of proofs (according to Beeld newspaper).

Oscar pistorius is a good athlete; we need trust in ourselves and do not abandon our wishes.

We have to fight hard in life, it does no matter if we have any physical incapacity, because our brain is in perfect conditions.

                                                                                                                                    By: Isabel Diaz