Should All Athletes with Any Type of Disability be Allowed to be Classified for Every Sport?
Welcome all new and returning readers to my blog page, this week's blog post is all about inclusion in sports. The questions that are being discussed in this week's post are, first should all athletes with any type of disability be allowed to be classified for any sport? As well as should Paralympic sports be fully inclusive and how to create a fair playing field with so many different disabilities?
I believe in theory, all athletes no matter the disabilities should be allowed to be classified in any sport. I think that total inclusion and equality is the true way and backbone of the Paralympics. Although, this is a beautiful ideology in theory, putting it into practice a lot harder than it seems. This would immediately lead to some serious fairness issues, because of how different disabilities affect the body in several ways. For example, an athlete with a mobility disability would be competing under different physical conditions than an athlete with let us say a visual or auditory impairment. Furthermore, this is exactly why the Paralympics has a classification system in place (Figure 1). This system is designed to group athletes based on how their impairment impacts performance in a specific sport, and not just by what disability they have. Below is a YouTube video link, better explaining how the Paralympic classification system operates.
(Paralympic Classification System YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/FshVi7Dx378?si=OKyazCIUl_07JIxG)
(Figure 1: Example of the Paralympic Classification System)
Although the Paralympics has a classification system, the goal should still be to strive for as much inclusion as possible. Now, this inclusion does not have to mean that everyone competes together, but rather that everyone gets an opportunity to compete in a way that is fair. This fair playing field might consist of adapting the current rules, building more specific classification categories, and/or developing new events. While all of these suggestions might seem easy to incorporate, creating a fair playing field for everyone with so many varying disabilities is quite difficult. It requires constant small and large improvements and evaluations, which involves things like surveying athletes and scientific research. Lastly, all of these procedures would cost the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) a good amount of money.
In conclusion, I think in theory it would be amazing to allow all athletes no matter what their disability, to participate in any sport. Although, I do not think in practice it would be possible to allow all athletes in every sport. I believe the Paralympics classification system is the best feasible way for everyone to participate, while also keeping a fair playing field. Thank you for tuning into this week's blog post, stay tuned for next week's post!
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