The Main Paralympic Categories

Disabled athletes have always revered the Paralympics as a means for them to compete professionally, despite whatever type of disability or ailment they may be suffering from. While it isn’t quite as popular or as large as the main Olympic Games, it remains the gold standard for disabled athletes from around the world, and it’s something that many amateurs aspire to participate in at one point in their lives. The events in the Paralympics are broken down into categories that, and are set not just by the events themselves, but also by the type of disability that the athlete is suffering from when they take part.

  1. Cycling

Cycling is open to any athletes that are visually impaired, have amputations, or suffer from cerebral palsy. It’s also open to anyone that wants to take place in track events or individual road races. Those that suffer from cerebral palsy are split into four different events according to the severity of their conditions, where class four athletes are considered to be more physically abled. Those that have visual impairment are able to compete with no operate classification division, and are allowed to ride in tandem with a certified guide.

  1. Athletics

Athletic events are can be participated in by any disabled groups thanks to the many different varieties of athletics that are available in the Paralympics. This can be made up of track and field athletes who have visual impairment, those that have intellectual impairment, cerebral palsy, amputations, or those that need to take part in a wheelchair. Blind athletes will have to compete in class 11, and are allowed to use a trained guide to help them make their way through the curse. They are also allowed to make use of sound cues for their performances, such as hearing claps or voices while competing in long jump or triple jump.

  1. Football

Football for the disabled is made up of five-a-side and can be played by blind players, while seven-a-side football is only allowed for those that have cerebral palsy. Anyone taking part in the five-a-side football will have to have their visual impairment assessed, after which they will be assigned to specific classes, and those classes will compete against each other. Those in B1, for example, are considered blind, while those in B2 and B3 are visually impaired and partially sighed respectively. The goalkeeper in these games is allowed to be sighted, but may not leave the goal area during the game, and there are no offside rules for this type of football. The sport is extremely competitive, the games worth watching while at home checking out Cricket World Cup betting odds.

  1. Swimming

Swimming is the only category that is able to combine all the conditions and disabilities into single events across all classes. This means that professional swimmers with certain disabilities are able to compete against those that suffer from a different type, but some sub-categories do exist. Swimmers with any physical conditions may compete against each other, but are not allowed to compete against those that have any visual impairment, while intellectual impairment is also a sub-class of its own.

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