There is a scene in the latest Rocky movie where Sly Stalone (Rocky) and his son get in a fight outside Rocky's restaurant. Rocky tells his whiney son, "it's not how hard you can hit, but how hard you can get hit and keep on moving forward". Well something to that effect. The movie is kind of cheesy and Sly has had way too much work done, but never the less I love that quote. I love it, because truly great people become great through adversary. If you have read the Steve Jobs you found out he failed many times over before he made apple into the world's best company. At Flocasts I have learned a lot over the last 5 years and failed many times and sometimes it was hard to keep on going. That is why my pick of the year is Oscar Pistorius' 400 in Lignano, where he qualified for the World Champs and the Olympics.



Oscar's whole life has been a battle. No matter what hit him, he kept on moving forward. He grew up with no legs below his knees, but that did not stop him, he kept moving forward. He loved sports, but that it is a little hard with no legs, but that did not stop him, he kept moving forward. Oscar started running track and started winning. Oscar won Par-Olympic titles, but that was not enough. His times kept lowering and now he was competing with "normal" athletes and doing well and the Olympics became a reality, but he got hit again, when he was told he could not compete, because his prosthetic legs were an "advantage". I can only imagine how devastating this decision must have been to Oscar, it was totally out of his control, and probably for one of the first times having no legs was an advantage. Even this did not stop him, he kept moving forward, he fought the decision in court and won his chance at the opportunity to qualify for the Olympics. Oscar's race in Italy this year where he qualified is my favorite race of the year, because no matter what hit Oscar, he kept moving forward.  (refresh page if you don't see the videos below)

Oscar's Race where he became the first amputee to qualify for the Track and Field World Championships. Check out the interview from after the race.


Oscar talks after competing in the semi-finals of the 400 meters at the World Championships, many people didn't think he'd make it out of the first round. Check out the first round interview here



Check out some more videos that we got with Oscar that gives really great insight to who he is and what he's been through:
- "Get to Know" interview with Oscar
- Watch Oscar 'put on his legs' before 400 race in Lignano
- Oscar talks about his past ban by IAAF for having an "advantage"
- Ryan first meets Oscar in Norway on a shuttle to the 2009 Oslo meet