Wheelchair sport classification
Classification for spinal cord injuries internationally is also handled on a sport specific basis, with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) being the classifier for a number of sports including alpine skiing, biathlon, cross country skiing, ice sledge hockey, powerlifting, shooting, swimming, and wheelchair dance.
Wheelchair sport classification was first experimented with by Ludwig Guttmann at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital during the 1940s, and was formalized in the 1950s.
The purpose of classification in wheelchair sports is to allow fair competition between people with different types of disabilities.
[2][4][5] In wheelchair fencing, the purpose of classification is to insure that fencers are classified based on equitable functional mobility so that their training, skill level, talent and experience determine the outcome of a match, not their disability type.
[4] In wheelchair rugby, the purpose of classification is to give structure to the sport by minimizing the impact of different levels of functional disabilities on the court as it pertains to the outcome of the game.
[6] Wheelchair sport classification includes a number of disabilities that cause problems with the spinal cord.
In practice, ISMWSF has defined this as 70 points or less on the muscle group function test for people with lower limb and trunk impairments.
[7] The location of lesions on different vertebrae tend to be associated with disability levels and functionality issues.
[8] The location of these lesions and their association with physical disability is used with a number of medical and functional classification systems for wheelchair sports.
[16][17] From the 1950s to the early 2000s, wheelchair sport classification was handled International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation (ISMGF).
[23] The International Paralympic Committee manages classification for a number of spinal cord injury and wheelchair sports including alpine skiing, biathlon, cross country skiing, ice sledge hockey, powerlifting, shooting, swimming, and wheelchair dance.
This system was published in the Handbook of Rules, which was distributed to people involved with paraplegic sport at the time including coaches, doctors and physiotherapists in various countries.
The group most likely to try to cheat at classification were wheelchair basketball players with complete spinal cord injuries located at the high thoracic transection of the spine.
The system was designed to keep out people with less severe spinal cord injuries, and had no medical basis in many cases.
Some of the medical classifications for many sportspeople appeared arbitrary, with people of different functional levels being put into the same class.
During this period, people had strong feelings both ways but few practical changes were made to existing classification systems.
While the traditional medical system of where a spinal cord injury was located could be part of classification, it was only one advisory component.
[4] Para-equestrian was also starting this process, having a combined class for spinal cord injuries and Les Autres at the 1984 Summer Paralympics, with the competition being held in Texas.
[19] Wheelchair rugby was one of the sports to make the transition in 1991 from a medical based classification system to a functional one.
[5] In 1992, IWAS started governing wheelchair rugby classification after the sport was created in Canada in 1977.
The sport made the switch to a functional classification system in 1991 as part of an effort to be inclusive of people with a broader range of disabilities beyond spinal cord injuries.
The change to a functional system allowed people with polio, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis and amputations to fully participate in the sport.
In 2008, a number of small changes were made to wheelchair rugby's classification rules in accordance with IPC guidelines following a multi year review.
[5] In 2010, the International Wheelchair Rugby Federation formally separated from IWAS and took over management of classification of their sport themselves.
[44] In archery, people with spinal cord injuries can be found in ARW1, ARW2 or ARST based on the severity of their disability.
[50] One of the standard means of assessing functional classification is the bench test, which is used in swimming, lawn bowls and wheelchair fencing.
The sixth test measures the trunk extension involving the lumbar and dorsal muscles while leaning forward at a 45 degree angle.
In the case of electric wheelchair hockey, it is a T1 level spinal injury or above, having cerebral palsy, having a neuromuscular disease, having an orthopedic disabilities excluding OI, having brittle bone disease, or having severe kyphoscoliosis with poor sitting balance.
After this, functional classification takes place using three tests, including cone navigation, hitting and slalom.
[12] One of the criticisms of the wheelchair sport classification system is that it results in sportspeople in this class being the most celebrated on the Paralympic level, and held up as exemplars of people with disabilities.
