A Quick Guide to Classification

You've seen those alphabets and digit(s) after Paralympians' sport and discipline. They are indeed the 'sport class' in which para athletes compete, determined by the Classification System created and managed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

Decorated HK Paralympians (L) Chu Man-kai, (R) Daniel Chan Ho-yuen. While they both play badminton, they belong to sport class SH6 and WH6 respectively, which is the perfect example of how Classification helps make competition among para athletes with different impairments fair.

What is Classification?

We are familiar with age categories in marathon, weight classes in combat sports, or men and women compete separately. Classification is just the same thing. It groups para athletes into different 'sport classes', based on how their impairments affect their ability to play the sport.

Why? Let's say, it won't be even close to 'feasible', if not 'fair', for blind sprinters to run against rivals with perfect vision, or wheelchair users against prosthesis users. The same goes for Para Swimming, Cycling, Rowing, Sport Climbing, and so on and so forth.

So for the assessment of S14 (intellectual impairment) swimmers, it is not about their intelligence, but how they have slower reaction time, difficulties with regards to pattern recognition, sequencing and memory, and they show a higher number of strokes relative to their speed than able-bodied elite swimmers.

The Classification, therefore, makes competition fair and ensures success is determined by sporting excellence.

Meaning of Sport Class Alphabets & Digits

Take class T11 in Para Athletics as an example. While 'T' means 'Track', the first digit '1' means 'vision impairment' (type of impairment); the second digit '1' means 'no light perception' (degree of impairment).

While a smaller number usually means a more severe impairment, note that classification is sport-specific. It means Para Swimming is having totally different sport classes to Boccia. That's why you see VS1 and VS2 (VS1 players have the most severe core function impairment) in Sitting Volleyball, while it's B1 to B3 in Goalball (B1 players have the most severe vision impairment).

Currently, there are 7 Eligible Impairments as set out below:

• Impaired Muscle Power

• Impaired Passive Range of Movement

• Limb Deficiency and/or Limb Length Difference

• Short Stature

• Coordination Impairments

• Vision Impairment

• Intellectual Impairment

For details, please see IPC's explanation and HKPC Q&A.

Examples of Classification in Paralympic Games. Credit: IPC I'mPOSSIBLE Education Programme