Running into obsolescence: Paralympic prosthetics and the Cybathlon alternative
Authors: Dyer, B.T.J.
Journal: Performance Enhancement and Health
Publication Date: 01/05/2026
Volume: 14
Issue: 2
ISSN: 2211-2669
DOI: 10.1016/j.peh.2026.100416
Abstract:The role of prosthetic technology in elite sport with a disability remains contested, positioned uneasily between narratives of fairness, enhancement and empowerment. The paper argues that the Paralympic Games model is rooted in technological conservatism, treating technologies such as prosthetics as a threat to fairness and regulating them as only partially corrective tools rather than as a true restoration of abilities. By contrast, the Cybathlon embraces performance enhancing assistive technologies as integral to athletic performance and everyday life, designing competition tasks around real-world challenges. Through this comparison, the paper demonstrates that the Paralympics’ restrictive ethos to prosthetic limbs rules risks its obsolescence when the prosthetics currently used will no longer reflect that of everyday practice or society. In contrast, the Cybathlon reflects a progressive approach that celebrates a human–machine hybridity. This paper offers a conceptual commentary that introduces ‘technological obsolescence’ as a consideration for understanding Para Sport regulation and equipment-based performance enhancement.
Source: Scopus
Running into Obsolescence: Paralympic Prosthetics and the Cybathlon Alternative.
Authors: Dyer, B.
Journal: Performance Enhancement and Health
Publication Date: 2026
Publisher: Elsevier
eISSN: 2211-2669
ISSN: 2211-2669
Source: Manual