Paralympic sprinter Brian Frasure’s experiences in the sport inspired him to take up a career in prosthetics, skills that helped rival ”Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius beat him on the track.
Frasure is hanging up his track spikes after Beijing to concentrate on his career — but for the moment is bidding for more medals.
The American amputee, working in the prosthetics field for the past decade, admits he has always been competitive, so what drove him to help his main rival by making the ”blades” for which Pistorius has become famous?
”I’ve tried to be a help to other athletes as well, including Oscar. I was one of two prosthetists that set up his first pair of Cheetah feet three months prior to Athens [Paralympics 2004].
”I got a lot of questions after that because I was the world record holder in the 200m at the time and he beat me pretty badly in the 200m in that race and went faster than my world record.
”Of course it’s bittersweet. As an athlete I hate to lose but as a friend and prosthetist of his it makes me feel good inside that I’ve been able to help him achieve his goals.”
Frasure, who meets Pistorius in the 100m in their category on Tuesday evening, admits that his sport has started taking a back seat and his training has not been ”optimal” in the run-up to the Games.
”But that’s OK because I’m also age-wise probably a bit past my prime as a world-class athlete as well, so I’m actually just very pleased to have made the team and still be a contender for a medal,” he said.
Frasure (35) was an outstanding able-bodied collegiate sprinter but at the age of 19 lost his leg playing a dangerous game with friends.
Trying to leap on to a freight train, he fell and ended up having to have his left leg amputated below the knee after it was crushed.
In 2000 he was stripped of his 200m silver medal in the Sydney Games after he tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone, although Paralympic authorities accepted that it was an inadvertent use of anabolic steroids through the use of supplements.
Frasure then won two gold medals in Athens in the sprint relays, and is aiming for more medals in the 100m and the 4x100m relay in Beijing in his final Paralympics.
The work he does as a clinical prosthetist involves tailoring prosthetic feet to the individual needs of each athlete. The feet are custom-made based on two criteria — body weight and limb length.
Inspired to go into the field of prosthetics by his experiences in athletics, he now works for Iceland-based company Ossur, focusing on the company’s defence accounts and spending much of his time at US military hospitals.
”It really is an honour to work with these guys because their attitudes are so good and they want to get back out there as soon as they get back from the war, and some of these guys want to get back into active duty and fight again, so it’s very inspiring.”
Frasure said he would miss the track but he would stay involved in future Paralympics through his work, acting as a team prosthetist.
”I will definitely miss it. It will be very hard hanging up the track spikes but it’s kind of a goodbye, not a farewell because, after all, I will still be involved at some level in the future,” he said. — AFP
