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Post by hasercentury06 on Apr 19, 2006 18:14:24 GMT -5
A Federal Judge ruled that Tatyana McFadden, a wheelchair athlete from Atholton, will be able to run alongside her fellow teammates and score in varsity meets. This has apparently started a controversy, and I wanna know what everyone thinks about this.
I think that in principle the idea is good; to allow a disabled athlete to run with her team. But the fact that she can score in meets is a little absurd. She can do the 800 in times that are significantly faster than anyone else can, and only because she will be on wheels.
I don't think it is fair that she be able to score in meets because she comes to the track with a tremendous advantage over anyone else.
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Post by sizzlinsizzler on Apr 19, 2006 20:59:51 GMT -5
Not neccessarily. if she's been in a wheelchair all her life then possibly she'll have an advantage but not always. wheelchairs do go fast but when you coast your only slow down. since its a race she dont be doing that and also she'd have to keep up tremendous arm speed to keep it up. if she can do that, then i'd give her credit for working so hard. yes it may not be very practical and if she does do well and possibly lands in a place to score, people might question it but i think they should take it as it comes.
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Post by hasercentury06 on Apr 19, 2006 22:06:31 GMT -5
She does have that advantage. She posted a 1:55 800 and a 3:30 1500 this year. I have yet to see a guy even do this. By posting that kind of time, it clearly shows that she has some sort of advantage.
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Post by hasercentury06 on Apr 20, 2006 17:37:04 GMT -5
There was a change made yesterday before she ran, and her points do not count as if she were a runner. Also, I googled her name, and this is getting national and international (Toronto) press. Quite impressive if you ask me.
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Post by sizzlinsizzler on Apr 20, 2006 20:15:54 GMT -5
wow, i didnt realize that she was posting such incredible times. since i now know what kinda times shes posting, yes, i think something should be done to properly base her against the rest of the crowd.
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Post by sizzlinsizzler on May 2, 2006 7:46:30 GMT -5
Did anyone else see the article in the carroll county times? Is basically told about her whole lifes story of struggle and trying to fit in. I thought it was a very touching story and I see why she wanted to participate. According to Tatyana, all she wanted to do was compete and that is what should have been given to her. She didnt want the ribbons.medals, or even the recognition. she just wanted to be out there with her friends. I congratulate her for having the juevos to stand up to everyone and eventually get her way.
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Post by carrollcountyrun on May 2, 2006 8:25:54 GMT -5
Did you also see the post by her teammate that said she doesn't attend practice everyday, gets special treatment because the coaches are forced to, doesn't seem to get along with her team and breaks team rules.
I can't respect anybody that uses a lawsuit to get her way. She may say that she didn't want that now because she is getting secrutinized a lot track and field people for what she is doing. She is trying to save face.
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Post by hasercentury06 on May 2, 2006 11:44:03 GMT -5
Where is this post?
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Post by carrollcountyrun on May 2, 2006 12:13:01 GMT -5
Posted by xcrunner0505 on milesplit: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is a topic about this on DyeStat. People have some very strong opinions, check it out: www.dyestat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26383Just to quote on poster, this is pretty insane: bshwckr592 bshwckr592 is offline Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 0 Default i go to her school and am on the track team. it is much more complicated than it sounds. she will be allowed to race at counties and score (since this was a county court, they only have jurisdiction in the county). it is a safety issue as well as an issue of equality, b/c obviously since she is on wheels she has a huge advantage against other girls (she "ran" a 1:57 in europe previously). she claims she wants to be part of the team, and yet half the time she doesnt show up for practice. if she was anyone else, she would be cut from the team since the rule is u can only miss practice a certain number of times, but since she is disabled if she was cut there would be a huge uproar. even worse, she is allowed to pick four events that she wants to "run" in and does not need the coach's consent; he must comply. for everyone else, the coach puts them into the events he thinks they should run. so if there are only three spots in a race for atholton runners, she takes up one of them, thus causing less opportunity for everyone else who is "normal." our coach is extremely upset about the decision, and he told me he was about to resign, but then decided not to. overall, nearly the entire team is against the decision (how about that for team unity?) and i know it sounds horrible, but u have to think about if u were in our positions. also, the county rule before this was that she would just have to race in a seperate heat and she would still score, but just not in the same heat as the runners. however, she was only allowed to race at duel and tri meets. during a team meeting about this issue, one of our team members said his foot was hurting, and asked if he could be allowed to wear roller blades. |
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Post by hasercentury06 on May 2, 2006 14:10:23 GMT -5
Wow...if this kid is really telling the truth about her, that's quite an act she's putting up and I don't blame him for being a little upset.
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