"The Fastest Thing without Legs." Oscar Pistorius or the Spectacle of the Frontiers of Humanity

In the beginning of 21st century, a man, who would have been characterized as infirm thirty years ago, questions the sport institution by claiming a participation in able-bodies sport competitions. Oscar Pistorius who presents himself as "the fastest thing with no legs," triggered since 2004 a controversy about his status involving international organizations of Olympic & Paralympic sports, as well as the scientific community. This controversy exceeds widely his individual case to open on the status of "technologized athletes" in general. The study of the debates shows that, more than the mere question of equity, the controversy about Oscar Pistorius links issues of doping, of the technological compensation of disabilities, & the biomedical reparation of impairments. Thus, the sports arena opens a political debate about what place should be given in the actual & future societies to the "technologically enhanced" & potentially hyper-successful human. This debate allows also understanding symbolic stakes of the contemporary spectacle of sports. Adapted from the source document.