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Oscar Pistorius beat a horse in a race, but did the horse take a dive?

Chris Chase, USA TODAY Sports
Oscar Pistorius of South Africa races against a pure-bred Arabian horse during the Gathering of all Leaders In Sport (GOALS) in Doha.

Olympic and Paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius defeated a horse in a 100-meter race on Wednesday, but his victory is under suspicion amid allegations the thoroughbred took a dive.

The South African runner was in Qatar for the race, which was to highlight the achievements of Paralympic athletes. Little did he know this would turn into his Black Sox scandal. (Cue ominous music.)

Via The South African:

Questions have been raised as to whether it was really a fair race, as Pistorius was given a 15m head start and the horse was visibly restrained by his rider. The South African SPCA was also outraged at the treatment of the horse, which it says was "unnecessarily and cruelly whipped from start to finish."

Oh my goodness. A double-amputee Olympian can't run a footrace against a horse anymore without having people get their knickers in a knot? I mean, come on people! Was it really going to be a fair race anyway? I know Pistorius has those blades and all, but the horse has four legs and is a horse.

The takeaway, as always: Nothing can be fun any more.

An aside: In the days leading up to the event, I read a lot about Pistorius taking part in a horse race and was excited to see the end result. It would be a new side of the Blade Runner. Mainly, I was impressed he was so versatile. It's not easy to race a horse, after all. Then, when I saw the clip and realized Pistorius was running against the horse and not riding one in an actual horse race, the whole thing made much more sense.

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