In this workshop in Sydney, designers are crafting prosthetic limbs for the nation's top Paralympic athletes. Prosthetist David Howells has worked with the Australian Paralympic team for 15 years. This prosthetic leg is made of carbon fibre and smooth, light, thermoplastic.
It's very important to have the socket fitting well and comfortable for her, because in sprinting she's putting four times the body weight through each toe strike,Specializes in rapid Injection mold and molding of parts for prototypes and production. so the socket's got to be comfortable.
The finishing touches are being put on this prosthetic for Paralympic champion Kelly Cartwright.Sharps include syringe needle, The 22-year-old is a sprinter and long-jumper, and this is her first chance to try out her new leg. She's one of just two athletes in the world to be trying a new hydraulic knee joint.
The mechanical knee joints we've been using previously has always created quite a bit of impact at the end of swing phase, which jolts the athlete, which disturbs their gait. This is a very smooth knee, so it's really providing the athlete with much more symmetry when they're running, which produces faster times.
It's an amazing piece of technology, and I think that it's going to be really great for the future,Our guides provide customers with information about porcelain tiles vs. and it's just basically a whole different ballpark for me to run on it.
Technology has come a long way for Paralympians, but it sometimes generates controversy.An Air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. South African Oscar Pistorius, the Blade Runner, smashed records at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. But what came next was an ugly fallout. Pistorius is a double below-knee amputee who uses two carbon prosthetics, and he wanted to race against able-bodied athletes. An international jury ruled his prosthetic limbs had more spring than human legs, although eventually he was allowed to run. The controversy still follows Pistorius wherever he goes, as many question the role of technology in sport.
One of the core ethical questions that Oscar Pistorius raises is what we call ‘authenticity’. So that is, is what Oscar Pistorius does a result of him the athlete or him the technology, the person interacting with the technology?
Kelly Cartwright deeply admires Pistorius, but even she admits his case is a tricky issue for Paralympians too.
In my opinion, I find it a bit unfair double below-knees going against a single below-knee. I find that really quite unfair, because obviously he's got two and the other person can only run as fast as their other leg is going to take them. But again, there's also other below-knees, double below-knees he's against; they're not as fast as him either. So, I see him as a really great fast athlete, but also I can see the disadvantage for the other athletes as well. I think that's quite unfair.
No sport is fair. Inherently it's a process of discrimination. Sport is about finding out who is better than someone else, and part of that discrimination is how well people use technology. If Australian Paralympians have access to better technology and can practice with that technology, then that's just the foils of war. They are allowed to do that under the rules. So the question of fairness becomes moot. This is about winning medals.
Prosthetics like this cost thousands of dollars, and are expensive for those even in affluent countries. The Australian Paralympic Committee is hard at work raising money for its athletes travelling to London. It's one of the challenges of Paralympics: how to ensure there's a level playing field when there are vast differences between countries' capacities to fund their athletes.
It's always a challenge, but I think the distinctions are perhaps not as profound as they were, say, a decade ago. They're still there, but I think it's one of the good things about the Paralympic movement is it's a pretty even playing field, and it's something everyone within the Paralympic movement wants to support as well.
The issue plays on the mind of Kelly Cartwright, and she feels fortunate.
I do think about that a lot. I think as well it comes into it is... uh, money and also knowledge as well. But they are expensive, obviously, running legs and prosthetic legs. It may not necessarily mean just because they get a leg they can run as well.Our guides provide customers with information about porcelain tiles vs.
Kelly Cartwright will compete in long jump against an athlete who will have two carbon feet at this year's London Paralympics.
I'm not worried about that at all. I'll just get out there and do what I've got to do. She can't run in her own class because there are no other people. She's got to be with us. So I think it just makes it more fun.
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