Classification in Disabled Sports

 What is Classification?

Because of the many types of disabilities there are, it is difficult to create an equal playing field in disabled sports. In order to make games more fair, athletes in disabled sports need to be classified. The IPC defines classification as a system that determines who is eligible to compete and who competes together. Classification is accomplished by assessing to what degree the impairment affects the athlete's ability to perform. Classification must be evidence-based to ensure that they are credible and truthful to the athletes impairment level. 

Classifications differ across every sport because each sport requires an athlete to do different things and use different parts of their body in different ways. Each sport has different requirements for the athlete and also for the classifier. Many sports require the classifier to have been an athlete in that sport and experience in the medical field relating to the disability. 

For the Paralympics in specific, the first step is determining if the athlete is eligible to participate at all. However, for many disabled sports, all athletes who wish to participate will be classified. Some of the 10 eligible impairments for the Paralympics are limb deficiency, hypertonia, vision impairment, and intellectual impairment. For the actual classification, each athlete is classified in such a way that they will compete against other athletes with similar types/levels of impairment, even if it is not the exact same impairment. This process requires physical assessments, technical assessments, and observation in competition (Ireland Paralympics). This makes the playing field equal, so athletes do not have an advantage or disadvantage compared to their competitors. 

There is a lot of debate and questions concerning classifications. One problem in classification is intentional misrepresentation, which is where the athlete purposely misrepresents their impairment to be put in their preferred class to give them an advantage over their competitors. Also, some types of impairments are not eligible for participation at all, the Paralympics are an exclusive sporting event, and creating a fair playing field is very difficult. 

Who Should Be Eligible?

Some sports do not allow all types of impairments to participate. This means that athletes with certain impairments are not eligible and cannot be classified, so they cannot compete. For example, in the Paralympics, an athlete has to meet the criteria for one of 10 eligible impairments to be allowed to compete. I believe that any athlete with a disability who wishes to participate should be able to. If an athlete has trained hard and has shown skill in their sport, they should be able to compete in whatever competition they qualify based on. skill for.  I cannot begin to imagine the frustration and heartbreak of working so hard in a sport and loving a sport so much but being unable to do because of an impairment, especially in an event designed for athletes with disabilities. I understand the difficulty of accommodating all disabilities, but I believe that there should be great effort to allow athletes with any disability to compete. 

For example, athlete Victoria Arlen is a Paralympic gold medalist that is no longer allowed to compete in the Paralympics. Arlen, like many athletes with disabilities, was not born with her disability. She was diagnosed with transverse myelitis, which left her paralyzed from the waist down. She became a motivational speaker and trained hard to become a Paralympian. In the London 2012 games, she not only won a gold medal, but she also set a world record for the 100-meter freestyle in swimming. However, the IPC has ruled that she is no longer allowed to compete in the Paralympics on the basis that her impairment may be temporary, while the IPC rule for eligibility is that the impairment must be permanent. 

The CBA news article quotes a social media post by Victoria Arlen where she states she disagrees with the IPC's ruling. She claims that the ruling is very discouraging to athletes with disabilities. She feels it is wrong because it discourages hope that those with disabilities may one day regain ability. I agree with Victoria. She is very skilled in her sport, which is proven by her gold medal. Regardless of if her impairment is permanent or temporary, it still has an impact on her performance, which would put her at a major disadvantage in a competition against able-bodied swimmers. I do not believe having a temporary impairment should hinder an athlete from competing. If full ability is regained, then they should no longer be considered for disabled sport, but while they have the impairment, they should be allowed to compete. 

Paralympics as Exclusive or Inclusive Sport?

The Paralympics are an exclusive sport, which means that there are athletes with disabilities who are ineligible to compete. Not all athletes who train to compete in the Paralympics will be allowed to compete because they do not meet the minimum criteria for impairment. I think that the Paralympics should be an inclusive sport. As with the story of Victoria Arlen, I believe there are unfair rules set in place for eligibility in the games. 

Athletes who qualify for the Paralympics train for years to get where they are. They are the most skilled in their sport to be able to qualify for a game of that magnitude. It is very disheartening to work all those years to build skills to use in one of the biggest games in the world, only to not be eligible due to classification rules. It may be difficult to classify every single disability fairly due to the lack of athletes with that level/type of impairment for example. However, I think that a greater effort should go into making sure anyone who qualifies for the Paralympics gets to compete without being removed due to eligibility. 

The Paralympics strive for equality, as that is one of their core values. I believe them being an exclusive sporting event goes against that value. The making of the Paralympic games was a huge step forward for those with disabilities. As the years went on, more and more changes were made to the game to be better, more fair, and more inclusive. I believe that the Paralympics has the potential to become even more inclusive in the future to allow athletes like Victoria Arlen and many others who are ineligible to compete. 

Fair Sport!

 Creating a perfectly fair sport is extremely difficult when there are so many types of impairments and levels of impairment within each type. Since the beginning of disabled sport , more rules were put into place to make the playing field more and more fair. There are still things that can be done to create an even more fair playing field. 

Classification was designed to make the playing field as equal as possible among the many different types and levels of impairments. Classification is the first step to creating a fair playing field by placing athletes with similar levels and types of impairments in the same group to compete against one another. This ensures that there is no advantage and disadvantage between impairments that are vastly different. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done to make the process of classification more fair, more equal, and more inclusive. 

One main problem of fair game is cheating during classification and during the games. Athletes may downplay their skills during classification to put them in a different class against athletes with more severe levels of impairment. This puts the athlete at an advantage because their impairment is less severe, and thus, has a lower impact on their skill level. There are practices in place to discourage intentional misrepresentation for both the athlete and the classifier. There are always two classifiers per athlete, and the classifiers are trained professionals in both the athletic and the medical world, which gives them the knowledge and ability to detect this type of cheating. There are also consequences to being caught. The IPC has different consequences for which article the athlete is found guilty under. 

Classification is a very important part of disabled sport. It ensures equal playing field for all athletes competing. However, the system is not perfect yet. Cheating through intentional misrepresentation is a problem when it comes to ensuring equality with classification. Furthermore, the Paralympics should be inclusive and allow all disabilities to c

ompete in the games. There are still many things that need to be changed to make disabled sport more fair and inclusive.

References:

Chapter 1.3 - IPC Classification Code: Models of Best Practice ... (2013, June). Retrieved March 24, 2023, from https://www.paralympic.org/sites/default/files/document/141113161802225_2014_10_10+Sec+ii+chapter+1_3_Models+of+best+practice_+Intentional+Misrepresentation+Rules.pdf.

Classification. Paralympics. (2021, September 30). Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://paralympics.ie/paralympic-sports/classification/

IPC classification - paralympic categories & how to qualify. International Paralympic Committee. (n.d.). Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.paralympic.org/classification.

Sagan, A. (2013, August 15). Why can't a paralyzed teen compete in the Paralympics? | CBC News. CBCnews. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/why-can-t-a-paralyzed-teen-compete-in-the-paralympics-1.1415539.