Editor’s Note

Gold Medal Performance

The 2012 Summer Olympics put the industry’s value on the podium.

• By David Kopf
• Sep 01, 2012

I admit it. I’m one of those people who gets all fired up every four years for the Summer Olympics. I love the whole idea of it: citizen athletes coming from around the world to compete in the spirit of a unique blend of patriotism and internationalism. It’s a rare opportunity to show how sports can unite the world. For any doping scandals, cheating, brashness or really cheesy dance routines in the opening and closing ceremonies, I totally buy into the Olympic ethic.

But this year’s edition was truly inspiring. Not because the Olympics returned to London for the first time since 1948. Not because the United States took home a whopping 104 medals; 46 of them gold. Not even because Michael Phelps swam into history by garnering 19 Olympic medals, the most any single Olympic competitor has won.

Nope. The true inspiration I derived from the 2012 Olympics was from a guy who didn’t win a single medal. I’m talking about 25-year-old South African runner Oscar Pistorius.

Chances are you know Pistorius’ story, but just in case you don’t, he’s a double, below-the-knee amputee who races on carbon fiber blade prosthetics made by Össur, an Icelandic orthotics and prosthetics maker.

As if being a double amputee was tough enough, Pistorius’ path to the Olympics has been tougher than other athletes. In fact, it was specifically because he was a double amputee that there was considerable effort made to bar him from competing. No kidding. People were claiming his lack of legs and the prosthetics he was using were a competitive advantage.

In 2007, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) even went so far as to ban the use of “any technical device that incorporates springs, wheels or any other element that provides a user with an advantage over another athlete not using such a device.” The IAFF said the amendment wasn’t put in place specifically because of Pistorius, but it did cite studies that concluded Pistorius’ limbs gave him an unfair advantage over other Olympic runners.

People were even alleging that Pistorius didn’t feel the pain that other runners feel in their legs, since his were made out of carbon fiber. These people probably never considered for a moment how excruciating it is for “the blade runner” to have his prosthetics grinding sores into his legs.

That ban initially nixed Pistorius’ participation in the 2008 Summer Olympics, but he appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which reversed the ban, stating the studies didn’t show Pistorius had any meaningful advantage over other athletes. Sadly, while Pistorius was free to compete based on that ruling, his qualifying times weren’t good enough for the 400 meter race, and he didn’t make the cut for South Africa’s 4 x 400 meter relay team, either. (Some competitive advantage.)

But, like any great athlete, Pistorius kept pushing forward undaunted, and eventually made his way into the 2012 games. From that point forward, he was a media sensation, especially when he became the first amputee to become a bona fide Olympic finalist, finishing eighth in the 4 x 400 meter relay. While he might not have won any medals, Pistorius put the value of what medical equipment can do for people across the world smack dab on the podium. That is a great thing for this industry.

Why? Orthotics and prosthetics is a close sister to DME/HME, and as more providers branch out into O&P, it’s safe to say that these sister businesses are seeing an increasingly blurred demarcation between their two “worlds.” If anything, they ultimately share the same agenda: to help patients get out and live their lives to their fullest potential. That is certainly what the two carbon fiber blades carrying Pistorius accomplish every time he strides up to the starting block, or crosses a finish line. And that’s something we can all root for.

This article originally appeared in the September 2012 issue of HME Business.