[4] As of 2012[update], people with physical disabilities, primarily competitors with cerebral palsy, are eligible to compete in this sport.
For their classification system, people with spina bifida were not eligible unless they had medical evidence of loco-motor dysfunction.
[10] Because of issues in objectively identifying functionality that plagued the post Barcelona Games, the IPC unveiled plans to develop a new classification system in 2003.
This classification system went into effect in 2007, and defined ten different disability types that were eligible to participate on the Paralympic level.
This policy was put into place in 2014, with the goal of avoiding last minute changes in classes that would negatively impact athlete training preparations.
All competitors needed to be internationally classified with their classification status confirmed prior to the Games, with exceptions to this policy being dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
[33] Going forward, disability sport's major classification body, the International Paralympic Committee, is working on improving classification to be more of an evidence-based system as opposed to a performance-based system so as not to punish elite athletes whose performance makes them appear in a higher class alongside competitors who train less.