F8 (classification)

F8, also SP8, is a standing wheelchair sport classification open to people with spinal cord injuries, with inclusion based on a functional classification on a points system for lower limb functionality.

F8 has largely been eliminated because of a perceived lack of need internationally for a standing wheelchair class.

Sports this class participates in include athletics, swimming and wheelchair basketball.

"[1] In Australia, this class means combined lower plus upper limb functional problems.

"[5] It can also mean in Australia that the athlete is "ambulant with moderately reduced function in one or both lower limbs.

[6] In the early Paralympic Games, this class would have been ineligible to participate in many cases because they did not meet minimum disability requirements set by the ISMGF.

[1][8] The class was largely used in the United States for domestic competitions during the 2000s for standing wheelchair athletes.

[1][2][5] Field events open to this class have included shot put, discus and javelin.

[9] Two other sports people in this class participate in are wheelchair basketball and swimming.

[11][12] In the earliest medical classifications for wheelchair basketball, they would have been ineligible to play.

[20] One of the standard means of assessing functional classification is the bench test, which is used in swimming, lawn bowls and wheelchair fencing.