Eligibility and classification in the Paralympics: how this works for athletes with intellectual disabilities

Aim:
Athletes with intellectual disabilities were disallowed from competing in the Paralympic games after the Sidney 2000 games, due to people without intellectual disabilities cheating. The aim of this paper is to describe the work that has taken place to a) establish basic eligibility to be registered as an athlete with intellectual disabilities able to compete at paralympic level and b) to go through the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) classification system to evidence the impact of the disability on the specific sport.

Methods:
The evidence required for confirmation of eligibility will be described alongside a brief description of the work carried out by an international research group who had the task of establishing a model and then testing it, to demonstrate how intellectual disabilities impact on sports performance across different events (for London 2012 these are athletics, swimming and table tennis).

Results: A robust international eligibility system has been established and about 2,500 athletes registered and a classification system has been established for each of the three London 2012 events.

Conclusion:
On the basis of this work the IPC approved athletes with intellectual disabilities to be re-included in the Paralympics and they will be competing in London 2012.