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Prosthetic-Limbed Runner Disqualified from Olympic Games
contraba55 wrote with a link to an Engadget story on a sign of the postmodern times. Oscar Pistorius, a world-class sprinter, has been denied a shot at participating in the Olympics this year. He's a double-amputee, but he's not out because of his handicap; he's disqualified because he's faster than most sprinters. "The runner — who uses carbon-fiber, prosthetic feet — was reviewed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (or IAAF), a review which found the combination of man and machine to be too much for its purely human competitors. According to the IAAF report, the 'mechanical advantage of the blade in relation to the healthy ankle joint of an able bodied athlete is higher than 30-percent.' Additionally, Pistorius uses 25-percent less energy than average runners due to the artificial limbs, therefore giving him an unfair advantage on the track."
We already have. The one for augmented humans is called the Olympics. The one for "natural" humans is done by unpaid athletes who have a real job or studies, in addition to the training they do. It's called something like "amateur", "hobbyist", "local sports club", "fifth division football" or something like that. The only rule concerning augmentation in the Olympics is that you must not be detected, which is pretty easy considering that these guys have the top doctors in sports medicine by their side, paid for by sponsors and/or the government. Sure, there is a grey zone, but so would it be with your proposal. Anyone who competes at top level, isn't doing it for health reasons anyway.
If runners can't keep up with the $6,000,000 man, they can always participate against Special Olympians to prop up their handicapped egos.