There are certain people who have become famous for taking prosthetics to the next level. In 1996, Aimee Mullins was the first amputee to compete on an NCAA track team, setting multiple world records.
Source: ABC
Running prosthetics, like the ones Mullins used and the ones seen below, take the shape of a cheetah leg. They have no heel and can store and release energy like a spring. But for other athletes, it is not always about putting one foot in front of the other.
Source: New York Times, The Atlantic
Here, Amy Purdy of the U.S. Paralympic snowboard team changes out her everyday prosthetic legs for her snowboarding ones.
While her snowboarding prosthetics are actually just adapted from ones for walking, she is able to adjust the ankle height and suspension. She also wears men's size 11 because the larger size gives her more control over the board.
Source: ESPN
For others, like Hugh Herr, losing a limb became a "call to arms" to develop new bionic technologies.
Source: TED
Herr, a top climber who lost his legs to frostbite in the 1980s, realized his lower limbs were now a "blank slate" that could be specialized beyond biology. He built feet with spikes for ice climbing and very narrow ones that could fit in tiny cracks for rock climbing.
Source: TED, Business Insider
He is now head of the biomechatronics research group at the MIT Media Lab, which melds biology and design.
Source: MIT Media Lab, TED
Most recently, Herr and an MIT team built a new leg for ballroom dancer Adrianne Haslet-Davis, who lost part of her leg in the Boston Marathon bombing.
Source: TED
After 200 days of studying dance, the team built a limb that could move dynamically with Haslet-Davis' steps, applying varying force to the ground depending on the dance move.
Source: TED
Here, Radocy wears a specialized weight lifting attachment from his high-performance prosthetics company, TRS Inc.
Source: Reuters
For other athletes, pushing the boundary of prosthetics means taking their new limb where their wearers were told they were never meant to go.
Source:The Inertia
Surfer and photographer Mike Coots, who lost his leg in a shark attack, had to figure out the right flexibility for his prosthetic ankle.
Source: The Inertia
Too stiff and he wouldn't be able to bend down when the wave went over him. Too flexible and he wouldn't have enough control of the board on certain moves.
Source: The Inertia