At this year's Olympics in London, South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius made history as the first double amputee to compete against able-bodied atheletes in the games. Pistorius made it to the semifinals in the 400 m and to the finals, along with his team, in the 4 x 400 m relay races running on a pair of Össur's Flex-Foot Cheetah carbon-fiber prosthetic legs.

His participation set off an international debate over whether he had an unfair advantage over "natural" runners. In other words, the whole world was arguing about whether Össur's prosthetic legs were better than the real things—not a bad problem to have if you're an orthopaedics maker.

Check out this story over on our sister site MD+DI that explains how, through savvy marketing, Össur was able to make the most out of its Olympic opportunity. 

—Jamie Hartford