Posts tagged running

The Economist just posted an interesting blog post about Oscar Pistorius (the blade running double amputee sprinter). It turns out that Pistorius actually has one of the most efficient running styles around and the blog post makes interesting reading.

Some interesting points from the blog post:

• He has run a good enough time to qualify for the 2012 Olympics
• He uses 25% less energy and able-bodied athletes. In other words he is super efficient
• Pistorius moves his “legs” through the air between strides way faster than other athletes
• His secret weapon is being able to use “gravitational torque” through a whole race

It seems that Oscar Pistorius has mastered a rare but exceptional skill that makes him super efficient:

“Mr Pistorius’s secret weapon is his ability, shared by only a handful of other athletes, including Michael Johnson and Carl Lewis, to use so-called gravitational torque throughout the race. This involves leaning forward and remaining constantly on the precarious tipping point between falling to the ground and maintaining controlled forward momentum with each step. All runners use gravitational torque when accelerating. Yet only the very best are able to maintain this precarious balance over the entire sprint distance.”

Very interesting information about a very interesting story. It is going to be fun to see how things turn out.