’Sore loser’ is the kneejerk reaction of the world’s media to Oscar Pistorius describing the IPC’s rules as ’absolutely ridiculous’. Yet for all that, I’m still a Pistorius fan.
‘Sore loser’ is the kneejerk reaction of the world’s media to Oscar Pistorius describing the IPC’s rules as ‘absolutely ridiculous’.
On the surface that’s right. Upon losing the 200m last night, London 2012’s most famous Paralympian shouldn’t have aired his grievances about the length of his opponent’s blades to the world’s TV stations. He should have gone through the official channels, especially given the fact that Alan Oliveira had been training with the controversial equipment for a month.
Yet for all that, I’m still a Pistorius fan. First, he can be forgiven for not watching his tongue immediately after a race that marked the crescendo of four year’s training.
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Second, he can be forgiven for expressing surprise that he lost; after all, he had just run a personal best which was faster than the world record prior to London 2012 and his Brazilian opponent overcame an 8m deficit at the 100m mark to win gold.
Some will say that Pistorius still should have known better. As the figurehead of the Paralympics, the double leg amputee is a highly experienced media head who could have guessed that his rash comments would taint the games.
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But for me the episode simply shows that he’s a true athlete with a competitive edge. That’s to be applauded — it’s the very spirit that is making the Paralympics so watchable currently.
And if that weren’t enough, Pistorius came out this morning and apologised. We’ve all said things we regret in the heat of the moment, and as situations go, losing the gold medal that you’ve defended since 2004 in front of millions is about as hot as it gets.
Read more by Freddy Barker
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