Para-archery classification

Para-archery classification at the Paralympic Games is the basis for determining who can compete in the sport, and within which class.

The Cerebral Palsy-International Sports and Recreation Association (CP-ISRA) classes of CP3, CP4, CP5, CP6, CP7 and CP8 have counterparts with the classification system used by the World Archery Federation.

[8] FITA sets the rules for competition in the World Archery Book: the most recent version effective as of 1 April 2012.

[9] In 1983, the rules for this sport and approval for classification was done by the Federation Internationale de Tir Al'Arc.

For their classification system, people with spina bifida were not eligible unless they had medical evidence of loco-motor dysfunction.

People with cerebral palsy and epilepsy were eligible provided the condition did not interfere with their ability to compete.

[19] 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.

[21][22] The distance from the target and number of arrows shot is the same for para-archery athletes as for able-bodied competitors[6] except for the Visually Impaired (VI) division.

[23] Athletes must have a current disability classification card or their results will not qualify for World Records, titles or any other rankings.

The classification process normally involves a physical assessment to authenticate the disability and evaluate the degree of limitation.

[31] Only wheelchair classified athletes were eligible to compete at the 1960 Summer Paralympics in Rome in this sport.

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.

[8] The first paraplegic athlete to compete in able-bodied competition the Olympic Games was a para-archer named Neroli Fairhall of New Zealand.

[37] 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.