International multi-sport events for disabled athletes
Ice Sledge Hockey: United States (blue shirts) vs Japan (white shirts) during the 2010 Paralympics 6️⃣ in Vancouver.
The Paralympic sports comprise all the sports contested in the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games.
As of 2020, the Summer 6️⃣ Paralympics included 22 sports and 539 medal events,[1] and the Winter Paralympics include 5 sports and disciplines and about 80 6️⃣ events.
[2] The number and kinds of events may change from one Paralympic Games to another.
The Paralympic Games are a major 6️⃣ international multi-sport event for athletes with physical disabilities or intellectual impairments.
This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebral 6️⃣ palsy.
Paralympic sports refers to organized competitive sporting activities as part of the global Paralympic movement.
These sports are organized and run 6️⃣ under the supervision of the International Paralympic Committee and other international sports federations.
History [ edit ]
Archery: Lindsey Carmichael from the 6️⃣ United States, at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing.
Organized sport for persons with physical disabilities developed out of rehabilitation programs.
Following 6️⃣ World War II, in response to the needs of large numbers of injured ex-service members and civilians, sport was introduced 6️⃣ as a key part of rehabilitation.
Sport for rehabilitation grew into recreational sport and then into competitive sport.
The pioneer of this 6️⃣ approach was Ludwig Guttmann of the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England.
In 1948, while the Olympic Games were being held in 6️⃣ London, England, he organized a sports competition for wheelchair athletes at Stoke Mandeville.
This was the origin of the Stoke Mandeville 6️⃣ Games, which evolved into the modern Paralympic Games.[3]
Organization [ edit ]
Globally, the International Paralympic Committee is recognized as the leading 6️⃣ organization, with direct governance of nine sports, and responsibility over the Paralympic Games and other multi-sport, multi-disability events.
Other international organizations, 6️⃣ notably the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS), the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA), International Sports Federation for Persons 6️⃣ with Intellectual Disability (INAS) and the Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CP-ISRA) govern some sports that are specific 6️⃣ to certain disability groups.
[4] In addition, certain single-sport federations govern sports for athletes with a disability, either as part of 6️⃣ an able-bodied sports federation such as the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI), or as a disabled sports federation such 6️⃣ as the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation.[5]
At the national level, there are a wide range of organizations that take responsibility for 6️⃣ Paralympic sport, including National Paralympic Committees,[6] which are members of the IPC, and many others.[citation needed]
Disability categories [ edit ]
Cycling: 6️⃣ Karissa Whitsell and Mackenzie Woodring (pilot) from the United States, compete in Beijing 2008
Biathlon: Andy Soule from the United States, 6️⃣ at the 2010 Paralympics in Vancouver.
Athletes who participate in Paralympic sport are grouped into ten major categories, based on their 6️⃣ type of disability:
Physical Impairment - There are eight different types of physical impairment recognized by the movement:
Impaired muscle power - 6️⃣ With impairments in this category, the force generated by muscles, such as the muscles of one limb, one side of 6️⃣ the body or the lower half of the body is reduced, e.g.
due to spinal-cord injury, spina bifida or polio.
- With 6️⃣ impairments in this category, the force generated by muscles, such as the muscles of one limb, one side of the 6️⃣ body or the lower half of the body is reduced, e.g.
due to spinal-cord injury, spina bifida or polio.
Impaired passive range 6️⃣ of movement - Range of movement in one or more joints is reduced in a systematic way.
Acute conditions such as 6️⃣ arthritis are not included.
- Range of movement in one or more joints is reduced in a systematic way.
Acute conditions such 6️⃣ as arthritis are not included.
Loss of limb or limb deficiency - A total or partial absence of bones or joints 6️⃣ from partial or total loss due to illness, trauma, or congenital limb deficiency (e.g.dysmelia).
- A total or partial absence of 6️⃣ bones or joints from partial or total loss due to illness, trauma, or congenital limb deficiency (e.g.dysmelia).
Leg-length difference - Significant 6️⃣ bone shortening occurs in one leg due to congenital deficiency or trauma.
- Significant bone shortening occurs in one leg due 6️⃣ to congenital deficiency or trauma.
Short stature - Standing height is reduced due to shortened legs, arms and trunk, which are 6️⃣ due to a musculoskeletal deficit of bone or cartilage structures.
- Standing height is reduced due to shortened legs, arms and 6️⃣ trunk, which are due to a musculoskeletal deficit of bone or cartilage structures.
Hypertonia - Hypertonia is marked by an abnormal 6️⃣ increase in muscle tension and reduced ability of a muscle to stretch.
Hypertonia may result from injury, disease, or conditions which 6️⃣ involve damage to the central nervous system (e.g.cerebral palsy).
- Hypertonia is marked by an abnormal increase in muscle tension and 6️⃣ reduced ability of a muscle to stretch.
Hypertonia may result from injury, disease, or conditions which involve damage to the central 6️⃣ nervous system (e.g.cerebral palsy).
Ataxia - Ataxia is an impairment that consists of a lack of coordination of muscle movements (e.g.
cerebral 6️⃣ palsy, Friedreich's ataxia).
- Ataxia is an impairment that consists of a lack of coordination of muscle movements (e.g.
cerebral palsy, Friedreich's 6️⃣ ataxia).
Athetosis - Athetosis is generally characterized by unbalanced, involuntary movements and a difficulty maintaining a symmetrical posture (e.g.
cerebral palsy, choreoathetosis).
Visual 6️⃣ Impairment - Athletes with visual impairment ranging from partial vision, sufficient to be judged legally blind, to total blindness.
This includes 6️⃣ impairment of one or more component of the visual system (eye structure, receptors, optic nerve pathway, and visual cortex).
[7] The 6️⃣ sighted guides for athletes with a visual impairment are such a close and essential part of the competition that the 6️⃣ athlete with visual impairment and the guide are considered a team.
Beginning in 2012, these guides (along with sighted goalkeepers in 6️⃣ 5-a-side football became eligible to receive medals of their own.[8][9]
Intellectual Disability - Athletes with a significant impairment in intellectual functioning 6️⃣ and associated limitations in adaptive behaviour.
The IPC primarily serves athletes with physical disabilities, but the disability group Intellectual Disability has 6️⃣ been added to some Paralympic Games.
This includes only elite athletes with intellectual disabilities diagnosed before the age of 18.
[7] However, 6️⃣ the IOC-recognized Special Olympics World Games are open to all people with intellectual disabilities.[10][11]
The disability category determines who athletes compete 6️⃣ against and which sports they participate in.
Some sports are open to multiple disability categories (e.g.
cycling), while others are restricted to 6️⃣ only one (e.g.
Five-a-side football).
In some sports athletes from multiple categories compete, but only within their category (e.g.
athletics), while in others 6️⃣ athletes from different categories compete against one another (e.g.swimming).
Events in the Paralympics are commonly labelled with the relevant disability category, 6️⃣ such as Men's Swimming Freestyle S1, indicating athletes with a severe physical impairment, or Ladies Table Tennis 11, indicating athletes 6️⃣ with an intellectual disability.[12]
Classification [ edit ]
Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
A major component of Paralympic sport is classification.
[7] Classification 6️⃣ provides a structure for competition which allows athletes to compete against others with similar disabilities or similar levels of physical 6️⃣ function.
It is similar in aim to the weight classes or age categories used in some non-disabled sports.
Athletes are classified through 6️⃣ a variety of processes that depend on their disability group and the sport they are participating in.
Evaluation may include a 6️⃣ physical or medical examination, a technical evaluation of how the athlete performs certain sport-related physical functions, and observation in and 6️⃣ out of competition.
Each sport has its own specific classification system which factors into the rules for Olympic competition in the 6️⃣ sport.[citation needed]
Summer Paralympics [ edit ]
Current summer sports [ edit ]
The following table lists the currently practiced Paralympic sports,
Wheelchair basketball: 6️⃣ Iran vs South Africa at the 2008 Summer Paralympics.
Discontinued summer sports [ edit ]
Winter Paralympics [ edit ]
Current winter sports 6️⃣ [ edit ]
Alpine skiing: Talan Skeels-Piggins from Great Britain at the Winter Paralympics 2010 in Vancouver.
Discontinued winter sports [ edit 6️⃣ ]
Sport Eligible impairments Governing body Paralympic Games status Physical Visual Intellectual Ice sledge racing Yes Winter Sport (1980–1988, 1994–1998)
Possible future 6️⃣ winter sports [ edit ]
Bob Balk, the chairman of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletes' Council, launched a campaign in 6️⃣ early 2012 to have sliding sports (bobsleigh, luge and skeleton) included at the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.[13]
At 6️⃣ the meeting in Madrid, Spain, on 10 and 11 September 2018, the IPC executive board announced that Para Bobsleigh had 6️⃣ failed in some evaluation criteria and would not be part of the official program for the 2022 Winter Paralympic Games.[14]
Abbreviations 6️⃣ [ edit ]Notes [ edit ]
The categories listed represent all those groups that participate in this sport at some level.
Not 6️⃣ all these categories are represented in competition at the Paralympic Games.
The governing bodies listed represent those organizations responsible for the 6️⃣ broadest level of participation.
In some cases, other disability-specific organizations will also have some governance of athletes in that sport within 6️⃣ their own group.
For example, the IPC governs multi-disability athletics competitions such as the Paraympic Games; however, CP-ISRA, IBSA, and IWAS 6️⃣ provide single-disability events in athletics for athletes with cerebral palsy, visually impaired athletes, and wheelchair and amputee athletes respectively.
Paralympic Games 6️⃣ status details the years these sports were practiced as full medal events at the Paralympic Games.
See also [ edit ]
