Paris Paralympics 2024: How the classification system works (2024)

PR1, W1, T51, F58, SL4, KL3, SM11.

This is not a test to crack a code.

But you will see a series of letter and number combinations while engaging with the Paralympics in Paris. At the Olympics, there is just one fastest man and one fastest woman over 100m – but in the Paralympics over that same distance, there are 16 classes for men and 13 for women, depending on their disabilities.

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This glossary will explain the method behind the different classifications, which dictate which athletes are eligible to compete in a sport and how athletes are grouped.

The letter and number combinations indicate different classifications for different sports, according to how much their impairment limits their activity (which ‘sport class’ they belong to).

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) says it is aiming to “minimise the impact of the impairment on athlete’s performance so that the sporting excellence determines which athlete or team is ultimately victorious”. Upholding the integrity of the competition is paramount for the credibility of the Paralympics.

How does it work?

First, it must be determined whether an athlete has an eligible impairment. The IPC states any athletes wishing to participate must have an “underlying health condition” which leads to a “permanent eligible impairment”.

How are the impairments categorised?

The Paralympics is open to athletes who have one of the 10 eligible impairment types. These are split into three categories: physical impairments that cause biomechanical activity limitations (impaired muscle power, impaired range of movement, limb deficiency, leg length difference, hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis and short stature), vision impairment and intellectual impairment.

Not every Paralympic sport is open to every impairment type. For example, athletics and swimming are available to all eligible impairments, whereas judo is specific to athletes with vision impairment and dressage contains a mix.

The next step is for each sport’s federation to assess if the athlete has an eligible impairment for a specific event and if they meet the minimum impairment criteria. For example, for athletes with short stature there is a height limit, or for those with limb deficiency, there is a level of amputation. An athlete may meet the criteria in one sport but not another.

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How are the sport classes decided?

Some sports, such as athletics, have more than 50 classes because they include competitors from all 10 impairment categories. Others, including powerlifting, have just one: limitation of the lower limbs or hips that stops them from standing when weightlifting. There is no single classification system that applies to all sports.

Paris Paralympics 2024: How the classification system works (1)

Mariana D’Andrea of Brazil during the women’s 73kg powerlifting final at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo (Zhang Cheng/Xinhua via Getty Images)

A sport class groups athletes whose activity is similarly limited and so those with different impairments may compete together because theirs may cause similar activity limitations. Athletes, for example, with paraplegia (paralysis of the legs and lower body) and leg amputations compete together in wheelchair racing.

Who decides an athlete’s sport class?

A panel of medical and technical experts — consisting of physicians, physiotherapists, coaches, sport scientists, psychologists and ophthalmologists (eye specialists) — evaluate how the athlete’s impairment(s) impact(s) on tasks integral to the sport and their individual performance.

Athletes undergo physical and technical assessments and are observed in competition before being allocated a sport class. But that classification may change over time, given the athletes’ medical condition may do the same.

What do the letters and numbers mean in each sport?

Each classification has a letter, normally the sport’s initial (for example, T for track, F for field, BC for boccia etc) and a number. Usually, the lower the number, the greater the impairment.

Different sports have different classifications.

For athletics, the numbers signify these impairments:

  • 11-13: vision
  • 20: intellectual
  • 31-38: co-ordination
  • 40-47: short stature, upper/lower limb competing with prosthesis or equivalent
  • T51-54: wheelchair races
  • F51-58: seated throws
  • 61-64: lower limb competing with prosthesis

In swimming, S is for butterfly, backstroke and front crawl, SB indicates breaststroke and SM is for multi-swimming events. Numbers 1-10 indicate a physical impairment, 11-13 vision impairment and 14 intellectual impairment.

In wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby, each player receives an amount of points according to their impairment. The lower the number the greater the impairment and the team’s sum of on-court players cannot exceed a set number.

For blind football, all outfield players must wear eyeshades but the goalkeeper can be fully or partially sighted, whereas in goalball each player must wear an opaque mask as well as an eye patch.

Paris Paralympics 2024: How the classification system works (2)

France’s blind football team in training before the Games (Francois Lo Presti/AFP via Getty Images)

Judo, meanwhile, is only for visually impaired athletes who are split firstly into two classes — B1 for complete blindness and B2-3 for vision impairment — and then into weight categories.

Click here for a full breakdown of each sport.

What happens if an athlete intentionally misrepresents their classification?

They could serve a ban of up to four years for a first offence. It is an offence to deceive the classification panel during an assessment, present at an evaluation in a different way from competition or not inform the panel of a change in medical circumstances that may affect their sport class.

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Has that happened?

Yes, it is known as “classification doping”. To cite two examples: Spain’s men’s basketball team won gold at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics but several of their athletes posed as having intellectual disabilities. It later emerged only two of their squad of 12 had a disability.

Indian discus thrower Vinod Kumar was banned for two years and stripped of his bronze medal after he intentionally misrepresented his impairment at Tokyo 2020 (the Games were delayed a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic).

After a three-year review, in May, the IPC voted to change its classification code in a bid to maintain the integrity of classification at the Paralympics. The IPC said this will “become effective in January 2025 for all IPC members, except for international federations governing sports on the Paralympic Winter Games programme. The code is envisaged to become effective for them in July 2026”.

The statement continued, “The current classification code remains in force for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games and the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games.”

(Top photo: Mauro Ujetto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Paris Paralympics 2024: How the classification system works (3)Paris Paralympics 2024: How the classification system works (4)

Charlotte Harpur is a football writer, specialising in women's football for The Athletic UK. She has been nominated for women's sport journalist of the year and previously worked on the news desk. Prior to joining, Charlotte was a teacher. Follow Charlotte on Twitter @charlotteharpur

Paris Paralympics 2024: How the classification system works (2024)

FAQs

How do Paralympic categories work? ›

This is due to the Paralympic classification system, which groups athletes who have similar physical, visual or cognitive abilities, despite their sometimes very different disabilities. Swimming, for example, has 14 different categories, multiplied by the number of traditional categories.

What are the categories in the Paralympics 2024? ›

These are split into three categories: physical impairments that cause biomechanical activity limitations (impaired muscle power, impaired range of movement, limb deficiency, leg length difference, hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis and short stature), vision impairment and intellectual impairment.

What is T13 classification Paralympics? ›

CLASSIFICATION PROFILE
CLASSPROFILESNELLEN EQUIVALENT
T13Visual acuity ranges from LogMAR 1.40 to 1 (inclusive), and/or the visual field is constricted to a diameter of less than 40 degrees.20/200 – 20/500 (Feet) 6/60 – 6/150 (Meters)
2 more rows

What does S10 mean in Paralympics? ›

S10, SB9, SM10 are para-swimming classifications used for categorizing swimmers based on their level of disability. Swimmers in this class tend to have minimal weakness affecting their legs, missing feet, a missing leg below the knee or problems with their hips.

What is a T47 classification? ›

T47 is a disability sport classification for disability athletics primarily for competitors with a below elbow or wrist amputation or impairment. T47 is a classification for track events, but unlike the other T40 to T46 classifications, it has no equivalent F47 classification for field events.

How does classification work in athlete evaluation? ›

The classification assessment will test the individual's levels of function, coordination and movement. Classifiers will also do a technical assessment where a person's medical records will be reviewed and they may be asked to perform certain tests. Classifiers will also observe individual athletes in competition.

What is a T42 classification? ›

T42 is a disability sport classification for disability athletics (track and jump events only), applying to athletes with single above the knee amputations or a disability that is comparable. This class includes ISOD classified A2 and A9 competitors.

What does C4 and C5 mean in the Paralympics? ›

C4: mild hemiplegic or diplegic spasticity; mild athetosis or ataxia; unilateral below knee or bilateral below elbow amputation, etc. C5: mild monoplegic spasticity; unilateral arm amputation (above or below elbow), etc.

What does SB mean in Paralympics? ›

• SB: breaststroke

• SM: individual medley.

What is T13 and T18? ›

This is to assess your chances of having a baby with one of these conditions. Down's syndrome is also called trisomy 21 or T21. Edwards' syndrome is also called trisomy 18 or T18, and Patau's syndrome is also called trisomy 13 or T13.

What is F37 classification? ›

T/F37 – Athletes who compete standing who have a coordination impairment down one side of their body. They have an asymmetry of running stride and arm and leg power in the throws.

What does the T stand for in the Paralympics? ›

Classes are given a number, and each number is prefixed with either a 'T', which stands for 'track', or an 'F' for 'field'. Impairments are split into groups – for example visually impaired athletes are in the tens (T11, T12 and T13); athletes with co-ordination impairments are in the thirties (T31-38).

What does S6 mean in Paralympics? ›

S6, SB5, SM6 are disability swimming classifications used for categorising swimmers based on their level of disability. This class includes people with a number of different types of disability including short stature, major limb impairment or loss in two limbs.

What does S16 mean in swimming? ›

Classifications 1-10: Swimmers with a physical impairment. Classifications 11-13: Swimmers with a visual impairment. Classification 14: Swimmers with an intellectual impairment. Classification 15: Swimmers with a hearing impairment. Classification 16: Swimmers with a transplant.

What is S7 disability? ›

They have limited leg function or are missing a leg or parts of both legs. This class includes a number of different disabilities including people with amputations and cerebral palsy. The classification is governed by the International Paralympic Committee, and competes at the Paralympic Games.

World Para Athletics Classification & CategoriesInternational Paralympic Committeehttps://www.paralympic.org ›

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What is the SL3 category? ›

SL3 class is for players with severe lower limb disability. They compete on half-width court. In Friday's late night matches, Suhas Yathiraj and Palak Kohli lost their opening mixed doubles SL3 contest 11-21 17-21 to top seeded Indonesian pair of Hikmat Ramdani and Leani Ratri Oktila.

What are the categories for Paralympic handicap? ›

Paralympic Sports By Eligible Impairments
  • Impaired Muscle Power. ...
  • Impaired Passive Range of Movement (ROM) ...
  • Limb Deficiency. ...
  • Leg Length Difference. ...
  • Short Stature. ...
  • Hypertonia. ...
  • Ataxia. ...
  • Athetosis.

What is the S14 category in Paralympics? ›

For instance, if a swimmer is partaking in an S14 race, it means they have an intellectual impairment and in swimming, the lower the number, the higher the level of impairment. Here's a full breakdown of how classification works in every Paralympic sport.

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