Abstract

Within lower-limb disability running, the design of the prosthesis has shifted from being a tool for restoring function to one of enabling elite disability athletes to perform to near able-bodied standards. The purpose of this paper is to examine the background to this development. The authors argue that the impact of technology on the design of lower limb prostheses is likely to affect athletes’ abilities and unfairly advantage those who are able to access or afford the most recent technological advances. It is shown that historically in the case of a lower-limb sports prostheses, some variation in their performance is evident. The disability sports legislation does not allow for this difference. It is indicated that these observations are of concern to the sports stakeholders and therefore warrant further attention. It is suggested that the full understanding of the prostheses contribution may never be known. The authors propose a synthesis of both quantitative performance data and qualitative values in what is deemed fair to police these concerns.