A2 (classification)

Sports people in this class are eligible to participate in include athletics, swimming, sitting volleyball, archery, weightlifting, wheelchair basketball, cycling, amputee basketball, amputee football, lawn bowls, and sitzball.

[2] In competing in other sports, this class may have a different name: Amputee football: Field player.

The nature of a person's amputations in this class can effect their physiology and sports performance.

[1][11][12] Prosthetic fitting and functionality in this class can differ depending on where, between the knee and hip, the amputation exists.

The lower the amputation, the greater the lever the prosthetic user has using prosthesis and the more control they have in its usage.

[11] Lower limb amputations effect a person's energy cost for being mobile.

To keep their oxygen consumption rate similar to people without lower limb amputations, they need to walk slower.

[12] People in this class use around 87% more oxygen to walk or run the same distance as someone without a lower limb amputation.

[12] Because of the potential for balance issues related to having an amputation, during weight training, amputees are encouraged to use a spotter when lifting more than 15 pounds (6.8 kg).

[1][13] IWAS was created following the merger of ISOD and International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation (ISMGF) in 2005.

[1] In shot put, people in this class often plant their left leg against the toe board when they begin the glide stage of their throw.

[1] Above the knee amputees have difficulty using standard able-bodied spint actions because of the differences in their functional muscle mass.

This technique involves using hip extensions to avoid deceleration caused by the prosthetic leg hitting the ground.

[19] For wheelchair basketball, sportspeople in this class tend to be classified a 4-point players, especially if the amputation type is a hip disarticulation.

[6][9] Despite wheelchair basketball having been around since the first Paralympic Games, amputee players from this class were first allowed to be classified and participate internationally in 1983 following the creation of a functional classification system in Cologne, Germany by Horst Strokhkendl.

Players in this class cannot use their residual stumps to kick the ball as it would give them an unfair advantage.

The balance issues associated with this can make it more challenging to use a traditional starting position to enter the water.

[18] Other sports people in this class are eligible to compete in include sitting volleyball, archery, and weightlifting.

[26] Sometimes the health examination may not be done on site because the nature of the amputation could cause not physically visible alterations to the body.

[27] For wheelchair basketball, part of the classification process involves observing a player during practice or training.