In disability sport athletes and players are grouped into classes determined by their degree impairment. Sport specific classifiers determine that an athlete is eligible and then allocate a sports class. These are:. BPA Classification Video. Easy Read Guide — Classification Video. Each sport has a well trained international team of classifiers drawn largely from a medical, physiotherapy or sports technical background.
Classification is an ongoing process. On entry to international competition new athletes will carry the status N. As previously seen with the range of amputations displayed by athletes, simply applying these five basic categories is not enough to ensure fairness in competition. This is where the different numerical classifications come in, to cater for the differing levels of disability - or to put it another way, to cater for differing levels of functional ability.
The ability to hold a bow steady in archery, to hold and swing a racquet in tennis, to manoeuvre a wheelchair, move around a court on foot, see the course in sailing, or a myriad other important skills all have to be measured and athletes graded.
Most sports take a specific view on what skills need to be graded, and how they need to be graded:. There is a basic three-category classification system for the various sports that are open to visually impaired competitors, such as Football Five-A-Side , Goalball and Judo. In other sports like Athletics and Swimming which include sections for visually impaired athletes, the classifications will be numbered , where 11 is for the most severely disabled athletes and 13 for the least severely disabled.
The basic categories are: B1: Athletes must have no ability to perceive light in either eye, or some ability to perceive light, but an inability to recognise the shape of a hand at any distance or in any direction.
Competitors in track and field events are divided into four main groups of classifications:. T Athletes in these classifications have varying levels of visual impairment. T These athletes have different levels of cerebral palsy. Those in classifications compete in wheelchair events, while athletes in classes are ambulant, meaning they can walk or in this case run. T Athletes in this category have varying amputations and other disabilities, including Les Autres.
BC1: This category is for both throwers and foot players those who kick the balls to the jack. Athletes can have help from an assistant, who can hold the player's wheelchair steady or adjust it, and can give the ball to the player for the next attempt, if the player asks for it.
BC2: This category is for throwing players only. No assistance can be given to players in this section of the competition. BC3: This category is for players with a very severe physical disability. Players use a device to assist them and also can be helped by a nominated person at the court.
BC4: This category applies to people with other severe disabilities not covered by the three other categories. Players are not allowed assistance.
Cerebral Palsy CP : These cyclists compete in four functional divisions. The athlete is only allowed to start in one division, and changing of divisions is not allowed. Handcycling HC : Cyclists in handcycling race on bikes with two big wheels at either end - they sit in the middle and use a hand pump rather than pedals to propel themselves forward. These competitors usually require a wheelchair for mobility or are unable to use normal bikes or tricycles because of severe lower limb disability.
GRADE II: These riders are mainly wheelchair users or people who have severe movement impairment involving the lower half and with mild to good upper limb function, or severe impairment on one side of the body. GRADE III: Riders in this section are mainly able to walk without support, with moderate impairment on one side of the body, moderate impairment in all four limbs or severe arm impairment. They may require a wheelchair to cover longer distances.
They must have a total loss of vision in both eyes. Fencing at the Paralympics is open to amputee, cerebral palsy and wheelchair athletes.
To level the playing field all must compete in a wheelchair, which must be fastened to the floor. This means they cannot backpedal away from a lunge or attack from their opponent. C5: Athletes in this classification have difficulty when walking or running, but not in standing or kicking the ball. Athletes will lose balance after a small shift in their central equilibrium.
C6: These athletes have moderate to severe levels of athetosis involuntary movements , ataxia unsteadiness or a combination of athetosis and spasticity muscle spasms for all four limbs. Athletes in this classification usually have problems controlling or co-ordinating their arms, particularly when running. C7: Athletes in this class are hemiplegic - they have paralysis down one half of their body, including face, arms and legs. These athletes usually walk with a limp and have an arm or hand flexed on the affected side of the body.
The other side usually functions well. C8: This class consists of athletes with mild hemiplegia, diplegia both arms or both legs or athetosis or monoplegia paralysis in one limb. Athletes must have an obvious impairment that affects playing football. Competition is open to all athletes with cerebral palsy, spinal injuries, amputees lower limb amputees only and Les Autres who meet miminum disability criteria.
Powerlifting is divided into 10 different weight divisions. The athlete who lifts the greatest weight is the winner in each division. It also includes people with multiple sclerosis.
People who are ineligible to compete in Les Autres classes include people with intellectual disabilities, people with heart, chest, abdominal, ear, eye or skin related disabilities where these disabilities do not impair their locomotor function.
This grouping does not include people with dislocated muscles or arthritis. Les Autres classes are sometimes broken down differently in medical literature, because the category contains ten different types of permanent disabilities.
These include hypertonia, ataxia, atheotosis, loss of muscle strength, loss of range of movement, loss of limb, short stature, low vision and intellectual disability. These ten categories through are not used as the basis of specific Les Autres classes. People in Les Autres classes often have cardiovascular issues associated with the condition causing their disability. They are almost more prone to stress fractures.
Individuals with short stature have this issue as a result of congenital issues. The classification system for Les Autres sport was developed by International Sports Organization for the Disabled ISOD during the late s after the organization had worked on developing classification systems for other disability groups earlier in the decade.
Les Autres sportspeople were included on the Paralympic program for the first time at the Summer Paralympics in Toronto. In , ISOD formally created the Les Autres sport classification system, with this system including six classes for Les Autres sportspeople being used for the first time at the Summer Paralympics.
Around the time it was created, the system was a viewed as being both a medical based one and a functional one. The functional nature was understood because of the difficulty otherwise often found in classifying people with multiple different disability types at the same time. Les Autres sportspeople were first eligible to compete at United States Cerebral Palsy Association athletic events in after previously having been locked out. Their participation was only allowed after people started studying their disabilities and how it impacted their sport performance.
The 15 members of the United States Paralympic team at the Summer Paralympics in Les Autres classes included 4 people with muscular dystrophy, 2 with multiple sclerosis, 2 with Friedreich's ataxia, 1 with Arthrogryposis, 3 with Osteogensis impefecta, and 1 with short stature.
They claimed Spain was second with 38 and the United States was third with Equestrian had a combined class for spinal cord injuries and Les Autres at the Summer Paralympics, with the competition being held in Texas.
There were 16 total competitors, with three having spinal cord injuries, two having multiple sclerosis, two with other neurological impairments, and nine others. In the United States, Les Autres were participated in sport via cerebral palsy sport organizations, and first participated in a national championship with their own classes in An organization for sports for dwarfs was created the same year in the United States and a separate one was created for people with Les Autres.
At the Summer Paralympics, there were 6 classes specifically for Les Autres sportspeople. At the Games, Les Autres sportspeople were not eligible to participate in wheelchair basketball. Starting in , there was a move away from Les Autres specific classifications to functional based classification systems at the Paralympic Games. This was realized in swimming, where Les Autres sportspeople competed directly against people with other disabilities including cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries and amputations.
As a result, the Games saw the total number of classes for people with physical disabilities drop from 31 to
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