The Impact of Blade Technology on Paralympic Sprint Performance Between 1996 and 2016: Bilateral Amputees’ Competitive Advantage

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Yetsa A. Tuakli-Wosornu Yale School of Public Health

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Xiang Li Yale School of Public Health
Cornell Law School

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Kimberly E. Ona Ayala Yale School of Medicine

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Yinfei Wu Yale School of Public Health

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Michael Amick Yale School of Medicine

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David B. Frumberg Yale School of Medicine

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1123/apaq.2020-0064
Keywords:
classification; clinical/sport biomechanics
First Published Online:
11 May 2021
In Print:
Volume 38: Issue 3
Page Range:
494–505
Restricted access

It is known that high-performance sprinters with unilateral and bilateral prosthetic lower limbs run at different speeds using different spatiotemporal strategies. Historically, these athletes still competed together in the same races, but 2018 classification rule revisions saw the separation of these two groups. This study sought to compare Paralympic sprint performance between all-comer (i.e., transfemoral and transtibial) unilateral and bilateral amputee sprinters using a large athlete sample. A retrospective analysis of race speed among Paralympic sprinters between 1996 and 2016 was conducted. In total, 584 published race results from 161 sprinters revealed that unilateral and bilateral lower-extremity amputee sprinters had significantly different race speeds in all three race finals (100 m, p value <.001; 200 m, <.001; 400 m, <.001). All-comer bilateral amputee runners ran faster than their unilateral counterparts; performance differences increased with race distance. These data support current classification criteria in amputee sprinting, which may create more equal competitive fields in the future.

Tuakli-Wosornu is with the Dept. of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, and Li and Wu, the Dept. of Biostatistics, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA. Li is also with Cornell Law School, Ithaca, NY, USA. Ona Ayala, Amick, and Frumberg are with the Dept. of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.

Frumberg (david.frumberg@yale.edu) is corresponding author.
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