Classification (Para Sport)

Classification is the structured process used in para sport to decide who is eligible to compete and to group athletes whose impairments affect performance to a broadly similar extent. The aim is to make sure that winning comes down to training, skill, and tactics rather than differences in the underlying impairment, in much the same way that weight categories work in combat sports.

Each sport sets its own eligibility criteria and its own classes based on how an impairment affects the specific demands of that sport, and assessment is carried out by trained classifiers using sport-specific rules. Classification is a technical, evolving field, and this entry describes the concept only; the detailed class codes and eligibility criteria belong to each sport's governing body.