Thread by @CashNSport

Afternoon ladies and gents, today's thread is on #Paralympics classifications.

Classifications are a way for organisers to group like with like athletes so that people of roughly equivalent disabilities can compete together.

This is how they work ⤵️

[THREAD]
#Tokyo2020

Classification is carried out through a process called “Athlete Evaluation” that comprise procedures for the assessment of athletes and the allocation of Sport Class and Sport Class Status

Evaluation answers three key questions. ⬇️

-Does the athlete have an eligible Impairment for this sport?
-Does the athlete’s eligible Impairment meet the minimum impairment criteria of the sport?
-Which sport class should the athlete be allocated in based on the extent to which the athlete is able to execute the sport?

There are currently 28 Paralympic sports sanctioned by the IPC: 22 summer and six winter. The two newest sports to be given Paralympic status are badminton and taekwondo, which will both make their debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games

Here are a few classification examples ⤵️

Football has two variants. 5-a-side football and Goalball

5-a-side is played standing as in able bodied games.

Goalball is a 3-a-side game played mostly on the floor although athletes can roll the ball and block the ball like goalkeepers

See ⬇️

In athletics the sport class consists of a prefix “T” or “F” and a number. The prefix T stands for “track”, marathon and jumping events, and F stands for “field.”

Classes are divided in terms of type (indicated by the first digit) and level of impairment.

In basketball thletes with different physical impairments compete together in wheelchair basketball. All athletes compete in a wheelchair and have an impairment affecting legs and arms.

Not all players are daily wheelchair users in daily life

Boccia is a Paralympic sport that can be played by anyone, with or without a disability. Originally designed for people with severe cerebral palsy, it is now enjoyed by players with a wide variety of disabilities.

Men and women compete together and there are four classes (BC1-4) based on the type or degree of impairment. The rules are adjusted depending on the class, such as allowing the ball to be kicked by athletes who are unable to throw it with their hands or using an inclined ramp

In swimming,athletes are divided into 14 classes

S1/SB1 -S10/SB10: athletes with a physical impairment and S11/SB11-S13/SB13: athletes with a vision impairment. The greater the number the more functional ability the athlete has. S14/SB14: athletes with an intellectual impairment

To take a look at how the many other sports work, take a look at the #Paralympics breakdown here ⬇️

bit.ly/3lYkCdM

The games start next week and @TeamSA2020 gets announced in two days, let's get behind them and show them all the love and support.

PS, if I got any of my interpretations wrong, please feel free to post corrections in the comments.

Also, I am fully aware that these explanations are short. The aim is to make these explainers as easy to follow as possible.

The full details on the various classifications are in the Paralympics website link provided earlier.

Hey @sportmansa @justReesie see above.