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Sprinting with prosthetic versus biological legs: insight from experimental data
Owen N Beck1, Paolo Taboga2, Alena M Grabowski3,4
1The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Royal Society Open Science
|January 24, 2022
Summary
Running prostheses do not provide an unfair advantage in 400m races. Athletes with prosthetic legs perform comparably to, not better than, those with biological legs.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanics
- Sports Science
- Prosthetics
Background:
- Athletes with bilateral leg amputations using running prostheses achieve high-level performance.
- Concerns exist that prostheses may offer an unfair advantage over biological limbs in sprinting.
- This has led to bans in non-amputee (NA) competitions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether running prostheses confer an advantage in 400m races.
- To compare the performance metrics of athletes using prostheses with those of NA athletes.
Main Methods:
- Experimental measurement of key running performance metrics.
- Comparison of athletes with prosthetic legs against NA athletes in 400m running.
Main Results:
- No athlete with prosthetic legs demonstrated superior 400m performance metrics compared to NA athletes.
- Maximum running velocity and sprint endurance profiles were similar between groups.
- Athletes with prosthetic legs were significantly slower in initial acceleration, curve velocity, and velocity at aerobic capacity.
Conclusions:
- Running prostheses do not provide an unequivocal advantage in 400m races.
- Performance metrics do not support claims of unfair advantage for prosthetic leg users.
- Current evidence suggests parity, not superiority, when comparing prosthetic and biological leg performance in this context.
