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If you’ve been following the Paralympics you will have noticed a classification at the end of each event name (e.g. T20 or SM3). These classifications are used to categorise Paralympians based on their disability so that para-athletes are competing against people with a similar capacity. Simply put, classifications at the Paralympics ensure fairness in competition. So, how do Paralympic classifications work?
Impairments and classifications
Athletes competing at the Paralympics are grouped based on three types of disability: physical, visual, or intellectual.
Classifications are made up of a letter and a number. The letter is usually the initial for the category of sport. For example, T is for track and jump events, F is for field events, and S is for swimming events. This can be broken down within sports, too: SB is breaststroke and SM is medley.
The number will then correspond to the degree to which the athlete’s disability impacts their ability to compete. Usually, the lower the number, the greater the impact.
Example 1: Athletics classifications
To help understand the classifications in practice, this is how para-athletes are split up in track and field.
11-13: Vision
20: Intellectual
31-38: coordination
40-47: short stature, upper/lower limb competing with prosthesis or equivalent
51-54: wheelchair races
F51-58: seated throws (e.g. javelin)
61-64: lower limb competing with prosthesis
Team sports
In team sports where every athlete’s disability impacts them differently (e.g. wheelchair rugby and wheelchair basketball), each athlete will be assigned a number that corresponds to their impairment. The sum of all the athlete’s numbers on the court cannot exceed a certain limit.
For example, in wheelchair basketball, athletes are ranked between 1 (the most severe) and 4.5 (the least severe). The sum of the five players on the court can’t be higher than 14 points.
The same logic also applies to relays in swimming and athletics.
Classification doping
Classification doping is the term used to describe athletes who seek to gain a competitive advantage by misrepresenting their disability. The most extreme example of classification doping is the gold medal-winning Spanish basketball team at Sydney 2000. It was later found that 10 of the 12 athletes in the squad did not have an intellectual disability.
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