Quote:
Originally Posted by Kadath
analog: he is using a device in conjunction with his body. His muscles still do all the work, the 'device' is useless without him.
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A gun is also useless without human interaction, but I wouldn't use that as a basis to downplay its effectiveness.
And no, his muscles are not doing all the work. Normally, a person would have the weight of their body coming down on all the bones, muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments, etc., in the foot and lower leg with each step. He is using a device which acts as a shock absorber, and will not have nearly the same fatigue factor to his "feet" as the natural competitors. Even if you want to argue that there's no
recoil springiness in the prosthesis, it is still very flexible and therefore acts as a buffer to downward force, whether or not it's capable of returning that force back upwards.
That alone is an advantage over all the other competitors who don't get to wear large shock absorbers. As has been pointed out, a large factor in the overall ability of the runner is the fatigue that begins to settle in with each progressive step, and their training to have hardened their muscles against this fatigue.