re: #380 JasonA

Heh. Maybe they didn’t want to risk the humiliation of having the other athletes humiliated by him.

It’s no humiliation to be beaten in a contest on unequal terms. A man with no legs but instead stumps strapped to a bicycle would also go fast in a race.

Specially shaped and tuned spring steel is just a better leg, for purposes of running on a track, than the regular human leg. A different prosthesis would be better for swimming, and so forth. Our own legs are a very good compromise, suited to the “pentathlon” called “life”.

We have all kinds of athletic events right now in which humans aided by machines compete. There’s the javelin throw, and then there’s archery. And then there’s riflery, bicycle racing, skiing, and yachting.

Even the simpler artificial limbs from earlier days conferred superiority in some realms. Imagine punting with a lead knout loaded artificial leg. You could hammer that football downrange!