Para-athletics is thesport of athletics practiced by people with adisability as aparasport. Theathletics events within the parasport are mostly the same as those available to able-bodied people, with two major exceptions inwheelchair racing and theclub throw, which are specific to the division. Certain able-bodied events are rarely contested as para-athletic events outsidedeaf sport;pole vault,triple jump, hammer (of which theclub throw is sometimes considered the para-athletic equivalent) and the three hurdling events. The sport is known by various names, includingdisability athletics,disabledtrack and field andParalympic athletics. Top-level competitors may be calledelite athletes with disability.[1]
Competitors are typically organised into three broad categories: deaf sports, athletes with aphysical disability, and athletes with anintellectual disability. Deaf athletes typically compete among themselves at events such as theDeaflympics, or in able-bodied events (such as British hammer throwerCharlotte Payne) while athletes with physical and intellectual disabilities are usually assessed and given apara-athletics classification, which groups together athletes with similar ability levels. These classifications are governed by theInternational Paralympic Committee (IPC) and comprise a single letter and a number: T for Track or F for Field, then a number defining the level of ability. In competition, events may take place between athletes of identical class if numbers are sufficient, otherwise a range of similar classes may compete in the same event.[2] TheRaza point score system can be used in field events to allow athletes of different abilities to directly compete.
International governance operates outside of the sport's able-bodied governing bodyWorld Athletics (until 2019:IAAF) and instead is divided among those categories, with deaf athletics overseen by theInternational Committee of Sports for the Deaf (CISS),[3] para-athletics for the physical disabled principally governed by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the IPC,[4] and para-athletics for the intellectually disabled through theInternational Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability (INAS).[5] There are also condition-specific organisations, such as theInternational Dwarf Sports Federation andInternational Athletics Association for Persons with Down Syndrome.[6][7] Rules for the sport are adapted from those set forth by the World Athletics, with the majority of rules for para-athletics being the same as those for able-bodied competitions, with exceptions that account for competitors' abilities, such as a visual signal instead of astarting pistol in races for the deaf.[8]
Para-athletics has been one of the sports at theParalympic Games since1960,[9][10] though deaf athletes and most athletes with an intellectual disability compete separately at theDeaflympics andSpecial Olympics World Games, respectively. The three major sport-specific world championships for para-athletics are theWorld Para Athletics Championships, theWorld Deaf Athletics Championships and theINAS World Athletics Championships. Other major para-athletics competitions are hosted within theIWAS World Games and theINAS Global Games.[11]
The name of the sport is ultimately derived from the Paralympic movement, the Paralympic Games and the name of the international Paralympic Committee. 'Paralympic' was originally a portmanteau of Olympic andparaplegic, reflecting the roots of the movement among spinal injury patients atStoke Mandeville Hospital underSir Ludwig Guttmann, but as theParalympic Games gained popularity and prestige, and importantly, expanded to other non-spinal classes such as cerebral palsy, vision impairment and running with prosthetics, the reasoning behind thepara part of the name was changed to emphasise that the Games and the Movement wereparallel (and thus equal) to the Olympics.
As a result'para-' came to be recognised as a standard prefix to denote all disability sports, and as organisations were formed by the International Paralympic Committee to organise and regulate the different disability sports, a practice emerged, particularly in sports with multiple disability classifications, of describing the sports with the prefixpara-, including in the names of the organisations formed by the IPC to run them e.g. World Para-Swimming, or theUCI-recognised discipline ofpara-cycling. The IPC Athletics Committee thus changed its name toWorld Para-Athletics, with Para-athletics itself a portmanteau ofpara and athletics. The main stand-alone championships of the sport are now referred to as theWorld Para-Athletics Championships - itself mirroring the change in theable-bodied events when theIAAF change its branding toWorld Athletics.
Competitors at elite level competitions are classified by disability, to arrange athletes with a similar disability in the same event. A classified T12 athlete for example, is a track athlete with a visual impairment.
Inwheelchair racing, athletes compete in lightweight racing chairs. Most majormarathons have wheelchair divisions and the elite racers consistently beat the runners on foot.
Paralympic athletes compete in the following events. Note that not all events may feature at a particular tournament, and not all events may be open to all classifications:
In 2017 rename fromIPC Athletics Grand Prix toWorld Para Athletics Grand Prix. Its purpose is the development of this sport as well as the classification and obtaining the Paralympic quota. An annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising six to nine of the best athletics meetings.[12]
Since 2013 an annual Grand Prix season.
Since 2016 wheelchair racers as part of theWorld Marathon Majors series.
Media related toPara-athletics at Wikimedia Commons