Powerlifting classification at the Paralympic Games is the basis for determining who can compete in the sport, and within which weight class.
[1] Entry is eligible to athletes who, through physical impairment to the legs or hips are unable to compete in able-bodied competition.
[7] This includes lower limb amputees, people with cerebral palsy or spinal injuries, and les autres who are classified as having a disability.
For their classification system, people with spina bifida were not eligible unless they had medical evidence of loco-motor dysfunction.
[11] 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 resulted in 1 class change, which was PPS protested by a national Paralympic committee and the classification was upheld.
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.
[18] 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.