A few months before Rio 2016, we wrote an entry where we explained the different Sports Classifications that exist in Paralympic Sports. At that time we promised to write a second part that would include Winter Sports, but time has passed and we have not done it.
In any case, like “better late than never”, here is that promised second part. Just in time for the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Games, which begin on March 9. Because, continuing with the sayings, “it is better to arrive on time than to be around a thousand years”.
Content of this article
Evolution of the International Qualification SystemManagement of Paralympic Sports ClassesSports Classes in Paralympic Winter SportsWheelchair CurlingNordic Skiing or Paralympic Cross-Country Skiing and Paralympic BiathlonParalympic Alpine SkiingParalympic Ice Hockey Sledge HockeyParalympic Snowboarding
Evolution of the International Classification System
In that other article, we already explained how the Athlete Classification was carried out, which is exactly the same for Winter Sports. But today we want to briefly tell you how it was achieved.
It all started in 1980 with a first system published by the WHO. In it, athletes were classified by medical criteriadividing them according to deficiencies and with the same criteria for all sports.
Like every first version, it didn’t work as well as expected. So in 1992 work began on a new system based on functional criteria. This allowed the same event to integrate athletes with different abilities, but similar limitations.
In 2003, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) approved a classification strategy that became the Classification Code which was released in 2007. This code indicates that the classifications must be adapted to the abilities and needs of each sport..
Since the new version of 2015 the objectives are:
Determine who is eligible to compete in each Paralympic Sport. Group athletes ensuring that the impact of the deficiency/impediment is minimized, with sporting excellence being what determines the outcome of a competition.
Management of Paralympic Sports Classes
The classification systems are different for each sport, they are developed by the International Federations responsible for governing each one and are reviewed with a certain periodicity, generally each Paralympic cycle.
Therefore, it is each Federation that determines how severe a deficiency must be for an athlete to be considered Paralympic. To be so, it must meet what is called “Minimum Deficiency Criteria” (MDC). This means that said deficiency must prevent the athlete from competing on an equal footing with others who do not have it.
These Federations group their athletes according to the impact that their deficiency has on the sport, there may be athletes with different deficiencies in the same sport class. If an athlete is assigned to one, but prefers to compete in a higher one, he can do so if the competition allows it. In the same way, if you have more than one eligible impairment, you can select the sport class that best suits you.
To decide to which class each athlete belongs, there are classifiers. Medical professionals or psychologists, as the case may be, and sports technicians who are the ones who evaluate and decide.
The only disabilities that continue to be governed by exclusively medical criteria are visual ones.whose classification is common to all sports although they may receive different codes:
B1 – Athletes with very low visual acuity and/or without light perception. They always compete with a guide. B2 – Athletes with more visual acuity than the previous ones and/or field of vision limited to 5º of radius or less. B3 – With minimal visual impairment to be eligible. They have maximum visual acuity and/or a field of vision of less than 20º radius.
Sport Classes in Paralympic Winter Sports
Currently, 6 sports are included in the Paralympic Winter Program: Wheelchair Curling, Biathlon and Cross Country Skiing, Alpine Skiing, Sledge Hockey and Snowboarding.
Wheelchair Curling
Wheelchair Curling entered the Paralympic Winter Games in Turin 2006being the second most recent behind Snowboarding.
In general, the rules are the same as in Unadapted Curling. The only exceptions are that there is no sweep here and that at launch time a stick is used to reach the stone.
Wheelchair Curling It only has one sport class that includes men and women. All athletes have a deficiency that affects the legs and some also the arms. They have the obligation to compete in a wheelchair, although that does not mean that they use it in their day to day.
Nordic Skiing or Cross Country Skiing and Paralympic Biathlon
Adapted Cross Country Skiing is one of the 2 original sports that were contested at the first Paralympic Games Örnsköldsvik 1976. For his part, Biathlon, arrived in Innsbruck 1988. That year, athletes with physical disabilities began to compete. And 4 years later, in Albertville 1992, those with visual disabilities also entered.
We already talked about Paralympic Cross-Country Skiing and Biathlon in a specific article, so if you want to see the distances, the characteristics and the differences with regular sports, you can take a look.
Cross Country Skiing and Biathlon Sports Classes
They are divided into 3 large groups: Standing Skiers, Sitting Skiers and Visual Skiers.
Standing Skiers: LW2 – LW9
LW2 to LW4 – Skiers with leg deficiencies. They compete with prosthetics or orthotics and use 2 skis and 2 poles.
LW5 to LW9 – Skiers with deficiencies in the arms. Depending on the case, they can carry one, two or no canes. In the case of LW6, the affected arm is attached to the body during the race.
Sitting Skiers: LW10 – LW12
All skiers in this group have leg deficiencies. The class is set based on trunk control, which is used for acceleration and stabilization.
There are classes LW10.5 and LW11.5.
Skiers with Visual Impairment: B1 – B3
They are grouped according to the criteria mentioned when talking about the management of sports classes, a little higher. B1 skiers must always compete with a guide, in the other two classes they can choose.
In Biathlon, all of them have an electro-acoustic device that allows them to aim at the target.
Paralympic Alpine Skiing
This is the another sport already present at the first Paralympic Games in Örnsköldsvik. Includes Downhill, Super G, Giant Slalom, Slalom and Super Combined events. In this article you can see what the different modalities of Alpine Skiing consist of.
Alpine Ski Sports Classes
Alpine Skiing also divides athletes into 3 large groups: Standing Skiers, Sitting Skiers and Visual Skiers.
Standing Skiers: LW1 – LW9
LW1 to LW4 – Skiers with impairment in one or both legs. Depending on the case, they can compete with one or two skis and use prostheses or orthoses. In some cases the poles have stabilizers.
LW5 to LW8 – Athletes with deficiencies in one or both arms, be it amputations, lack of muscular strength or coordination problems. Depending on the case, they compete without poles or with only one.
LW9 – Athletes with deficiencies in both legs and arms. Depending on their ability, they compete with one or two skis and one or two poles.
Sitting Skiers: LW10 – LW12
As in Nordic Skiing, skiers must have some type of leg impairment and classification is based on trunk control. Poles often include stabilizers.
Skiers with Visual Impairment: B1 – B3
Visually Impaired Alpine Skiers always compete with a guide. This descends ahead giving instructions to the skier through a radio system.
The 3 classes compete at the same time, in the same test. The result of each skier is multiplied by the established Correction Factor to determine the Final Ranking of the competition.
Ice Hockey in Sledge or Sledge Hockey
Sledge Hockey made it to the Winter Paralympics in Lillehammer 1994. Since then, it remains one of the most attractive and competitive sports of the Games.
In it, the 5 players of each team replace their skates with a sled with which they slide down the track, and under which they can pass the puck. Also, they use two sticks instead of one.
Like the rest of Team Sports, only has one sport class. In this case, the players must present a deficiency in the lower extremities that prevents them from playing conventional Ice Hockey.
Paralympic Snowboarding
Snowboarding is the last Paralympic Winter Sport to have been integrated. Specifically in Sochi 2014.
It includes the Snowboard Cross and Slalom events, called Banked Slalom. In the first case, instead of 4 athletes per heat, 2 compete. In the second, the riders descend one by one in a time trial.
Adapted Snowboard Sports Classes
Snowboarding has 3 classes, all of them for athletes with physical disabilities:
SB-LL1 – For riders with severe deficiencies in one leg.
SB-LL2 – For cases of disability in one or both legs, but with less limitation for activity.
SB-UL – For athletes with deficiencies in one or both arms.
These are all the Sport Classes present at the Paralympic Winter Games. It is possible that in Beijing 2022 the Bobsleigh will be incorporated and with it, new classes.
Now all that remains is to wait for the second part of PyeongChang 2018 to start to enjoy Winter Sports again.