A team of amputees sporting Össur prostheses competed in the first Cybathlon, a global competition that pits users of assistive technologies in contests that mimic real-life obstacles. The event was held in held in Zurich, according to a press release.
An estimated 4,600 people were in attendance, the release noted. The event featured robot-assisted challenges including six lower limb challenges: sitting and rising from an upholstered chair, side-stepping over barriers of varying heights, climbing and descending ramps, and balancing food items on plates while traversing up and down stairs.
In the leg prosthesis race, above-knee amputee Helgi Sveinsson won a gold medal, completing the entire course in 64 seconds. Teammates Billy Costello and David Jonsson took silver and bronze, respectively, and Lukas Kalemba, the fourth member of Össur’s team, claimed ninth place.
In a powered arm prosthesis race, contestants were required to prepare a meal, carry large objects over stairs and manipulate designated objects with their prosthetic hand, the release noted. Upper limb amputee Claudia Breidbach won bronze and teammate Bert Pot came in seventh place.
“We congratulate all of the participants in the Cybathlon, which was not a science fiction or fantasy event, but a demonstration of what advanced prosthetic technologies are capable of doing in real-life scenarios today,” Jón Sigurðsson, Össur president and chief operating officer, said in the release. “Össur’s prostheses help enhance the mobility and quality of everyday life for countless amputees around the world, and the collective performance of our Cybathlon team was unmatched in demonstrating the cutting-edge functionality of our prosthetic innovations.”
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