Starting classes of the Paralympic sports

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Starting classes of the Paralympic sports allow the classification of disabled athletes in competitions of the Paralympic sports in order to allow the greatest possible comparability of the individual performances. Starting classes should make achievements in the sense of equal opportunities comparable with each other, so that only individual skills, strength, fitness, endurance, tactical and strategic skill and mental strength decide on success in competitive competitions.

Paralympic Sports

Only the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) determines which sports can be called Paralympic. To become Paralympic and to remain Paralympic, a sport must meet minimum requirements, e.g. B. the availability of starting classes, an infrastructure for the classification of athletes as well as a minimum number of global and regional sports competitions per year: not only Paralympic Games , but also other top-class sports competitions. To be mentioned are world championships and regional championships , but also sports festivals and cup competitions. In addition, a sport should be actively practiced in at least 3 continental associations and 24 regional associations (team sport) or 32 regional associations (individual sport). A world sports association in the field of Paralympic sport, which is also the direct contact person for the IPC, must be in charge of all of this.

Paralympic sports (the leading world sports associations in brackets):

Classification of athletes

The Paralympic sports and their starting classes cover a wide range of disabilities for athletes. In order to be able to compete as an athlete in Paralympic sports, classifications and classifications in start classes are required depending on the sport. These are usually carried out individually and personally by experts who are appointed via the above-mentioned world sports associations - or national disabled sports associations classify on behalf of the world sports associations. The responsible national disabled sports associations in German-speaking countries are PluSport ( CH ), ÖBSV ( AT ) and DBS ( DE ).

Only athletes who permanently exhibit at least one of the following 10 Paralympic impairment categories are eligible to participate in Paralympic competitions :

Impairments such as cerebral palsy , paraplegia and spasticity are also covered by the above 10 categories. Some of the Paralympic sports are open to all accepted disability categories, others only to selected ones. For example, any sport for the deaf , those suffering from internal organs and for organ transplants is not Paralympic, which means that affected athletes are not allowed to participate in Paralympic competitions.

Starting classes per sport

The Paralympic starting classes are widely accepted and represent the standard in Paralympic sports. They allow global comparability of sports competitions and athletic performance.

Some Paralympic sports have an enormous number of decisions in their disciplines. Athletics ( 177 decisions ), swimming ( 152 ), skiing ( 70 ), cycling ( 50 ), table tennis ( 29 ) and weightlifting ( 20 ) together make up more than 80% of all decisions at Paralympic Games .

Summer sports

The summer sports are classified separately from the winter sports by the IPC.

athletics

There are six categories with starting classes in athletics. These six categories cover all 10 official Paralympic impairment categories:

Starting classes "T" Start classes "F" category
T11 , T12 , T13 F11 , F12 , F13 Visual impairment
T20 F20 Intellectual impairment
T33 , T34 , T35 , T36 , T37 , T38 F31 , F32 , F33 , F34 , F35 , F36 , F37 , F38 Coordination disorders ( ataxia / athetosis / muscle hypertension )
- F40 , F41 Short stature
T42 , T43 , T44 , T45 , T46 , T47 F42 , F43 , F44 , F45 , F46 Amputation , malformation , failure of joints
T51 , T52 , T53 , T54 F51 , F52 , F53 , F54 , F55 , F56 , F57 Impaired mobility
  • "T" with running and jumping disciplines in which the leg functions are particularly important
  • "F" with technical disciplines in which the arm functions are particularly important (except for high jump)
  • 10s, 20s, 40s digits and 35–38: the start is standing
  • 50 digits and 31–34: it is started sitting down
  • low class numbers per category indicate a higher degree of impairment than high class numbers

swim

There are three categories with starting classes in athletics. These three categories cover all 10 official Paralympic disability categories. Swimming is the only Paralympic sport that brings all kinds of physical impairments into functional relation with one another and relates them to one another via a point system.

Start classes "S" Start classes "SB" Start classes "SM" category
S1 , S2 , S3 , S4 , S5
S6 , S7 , S8 , S9 , S10 		SB1 , SB2 , SB3 , SB4 , SB5,
SB6 , SB7 , SB8 , SB9 		SM1 , SM2 , SM3 , SM4 , SM5,
SM6 , SM7 , SM8 , SM9 , SM10 		Physical impairment
S11 , S12 , S13 SB11 , SB12 , SB13 SM11 , SM12 , SM13 Visual impairment
S14 SB14 SM14 Intellectual impairment

Cycling (train, road)

For paracycling, there are common starting classes for both track cycling and road cycling. Eight of the ten official Paralympic impairment categories are permitted in para cycling; However, athletes with intellectual disabilities and athletes with short stature do not. The classification is established by the UCI:

Starting classes "H"
(hand bike) 		Starting classes "T"
(tricycle) 		Start class "C"
(two-wheeler) 		Start class "T"
(tandem) 		category
H1 , H2 , H3 (H3.1 / H3.2) , H4 Physical impairment , without leg function (no amputations)
T1 , T2 Severe stability and coordination disorders , with leg function
( loss of muscle strength , ataxia , athetosis , muscle hypertension , cerebral palsy )
H5 C1 , C2 , C3 , C4 , C5 Other physical impairment
TB Visual impairment
  • Low digits per category indicate a higher degree of impairment than high digits,
  • Athletes are only assigned to classes other than C1-C5 if cycling is not possible,
  • Women are allowed to put a “W” in front of the starting class designation, men can add an “M”. B. a "WH5" or "MC3" result.

Table tennis

Nine of the ten official Paralympic impairment categories are permitted in table tennis; Athletes with visual impairments due to the speed of the sport, however, do not.

Start classes "TT" category
TT 1 , TT 2 , TT 3 , TT 4 , TT 5 , TT 6 , TT 7 , TT 8 , TT 9 , TT 10 Physical impairment
TT 11 Intellectual impairment
  • Low digits per category indicate a higher degree of impairment than high digits;
  • Class numbers 6–11 indicate athletes who are able to start standing;
  • Class numbers 1–5 indicate athletes who are able to start sitting down.

The official designation for the starter classes is the generic class xx or class xx (with xx as the class number), but the short notation TT xx has established itself to better distinguish the classes .

Weightlifting

Eight of the ten official Paralympic impairment categories are permitted in Paralympic weightlifting ( bench press ), but the intellectually impaired and visually impaired are not for safety reasons. There is only one start class for all eligible athletes. This is the:

When handling heavy weights, personal safety comes first, which implies maximum implicit conditions for physical impairment, especially when it comes to arm functions.

Winter sports

The winter sports are classified separately from the summer sports by the IPC.

Skiing (alpine, nordic, biathlon)

When skiing, joint starting classes are held for three Paralympic sports ( Alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, biathlon ). Eight of the ten official Paralympic disability categories are permitted in these three sports, but intellectually impaired and short stature are not.

There are only three categories: seated starters, standing starters and the visually impaired. In these three categories all athletes enter the same competition together. For this purpose, the individual start classes are standardized against each other with different time credits, so that an extensive comparability of services is ensured.

Alpine skiing - starting classes Nordic skiing - starting classes Biathlon - starting classes category
B1 , B2 , B3 B1 , B2 , B3 B1 , B2 , B3 Visual impairment
LW1 , LW2 , LW3 , LW4
LW6 / 8 , LW7 / 5 , LW9 		LW2 , LW3 , LW4
LW6 , LW7 / 5 , LW8 , LW9 		LW2 , LW3 , LW4
LW6 , LW7 / 5 , LW8 , LW9 		Physical impairment , standing
LW10 , LW11 , LW12 LW10 , LW10,5 , LW11 , LW11,5 , LW12 LW10 , LW10,5 , LW11 , LW11,5 , LW12 Physical impairment , sitting

Para snowboarding

Paralympic snowboarding is one of the newest Paralympic sports, so changes to the classification of athletes and starting classes are still possible until 2017, before the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games .

Seven of the ten official Paralympic impairment categories may be used in the Paralympic Para-Snowboarding, intellectually impaired and visually impaired as well as small stature , however not:

Due to the relative risk of accidents in snowboarding, the focus is more on maximum criteria for impairments.

Wheelchair curling

Six of the ten defined Paralympic impairment categories are possible. The four not provided are intellectually impaired , visually impaired , stunted and athletes with leg length differences .

There is only one starting class. The athletes in this sport must necessarily have on disability of the legs as the minimum criterion. If this is the case, the athletes can also have impairments in the trunk and arms (as is common in cerebral palsy or multiple sclerosis , for example ). Sport must be done in a wheelchair, but athletes do not necessarily have to rely on wheelchairs in their daily life.

Sledge ice hockey

Seven of the ten defined Paralympic impairment categories are possible. The three not provided for are the intellectually impaired , the visually impaired and the short .

There is only one starting class. The athletes in this sport must necessarily have on disability of the lower half of the body as the minimum criteria that must be marked so as to prevent participation in normal hockey competitions reliable. Also mandatory is an intact upper body. The impairment of the lower half of the body is almost arbitrary and ranges from amputations to stiff knees and paraplegia to leg length differences of more than 7 cm. The sport must be done in the special sled without using the legs, the athletes, however, do not necessarily have to rely on wheelchairs in their daily life.

Para bobsleigh

Para-bobsleigh is very new, classification systems for athletes and starting classes are in an early phase of development. Initially, therefore, only single bobsleigh disciplines are planned for Paralympic competitions (one with self-drive and one with external drive). In an initial exploration phase, only athletes from four of the ten Paralympic impairment categories are planned, namely impairment of muscle strength , impairment of passive mobility , amputation or malformation of limbs and different leg lengths . There will be two preliminary start classes in the first exploration phase:

  • preliminary start class “PB”: the athlete is able to walk and is also able to push a bobsleigh independently;
  • Preliminary start class "PBS": The athlete has at least impairments of the lower extremities and is pushed while sitting in the bobsleigh.

Further representations

The IPC Athletics Classification Rules and Regulations of the International Paralympic Committee allow an introduction to the different starter classes.

In the online brochure The Classification System of Paralympic Sports of the Federal Institute for Sports Science , all starting classes of Paralympic sports are shown in detail.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Federal Institute for Sport Science (BISp): Paralympics classification system online
  2. ↑ International Paralympic Committee: Sailing & 7-a-side football no longer Paralympic from 2017, Taekwondo & Badminton will become Paralympic paralympic.org
  3. ↑ a b National Paralympic Committee Germany: Guide to the Paralympic Classification System 2016
  4. ↑ a b Bobsleigh temporarily accepted for 2022 paralympic.org
  5. ↑ International Paralympic Committee: Impairment Categories from 2017 paralympic.org
  6. ↑ International Paralympic Committee: IPC Summer Sports Classification & Categories
  7. ↑ Union Cycliste International: Classification profiles for para-cycling uci.ch
  8. ↑ a b c International Paralympic Committee: IPC Winter Sports Classification & Categories
  9. ↑ International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation: Athletes for Para-Bobsleigh ibsf.org
  10. ↑ International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation: addition of the Parasport BOB to the international regulations, 2015, appendix 8 ibsf.org
  11. ↑ International Paralympic Committee (IPC): IPC Athletics Classification Rules and Regulations (PDF, English)