Last Updated on 08/09/2024 by Arun jain
The Summer Paralympic Games in Paris are coming to an end. In the last 10 days, more than 1,000 athletes with disabilities competed in 164 different disciplines. Inspirational stories about overcoming adversity and celebrating a sports page full of diversity cover the event.
Indeed, the Paralympics, which are held every four years, promise athletes with disabilities a platform where dedication and skill, not their physical conditions, define their potential for victory. They are supposed to guarantee fairness and inclusiveness.
Yet, as I began my journey as a Paralympic athlete in earnest, I was shocked to see a system that often accentuated rather than mitigated disabilities. While the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) talks about progress in athlete inclusion and competitive integrity, many athletes face a different reality.
A faulty foundation
When the Paralympics began in the 1960s, they focused specifically on World War II veterans with specific injuries. Competitions were organized by type of amputation or wheelchair use. These categories are still largely in use 70 years later, grouping athletes based on their impairments.
The goal is to create a level playing field by ensuring that athletes compete against others with similar ability levels. However, this classification system no longer accommodates the wide spectrum of disabilities present in sports.
I personally experienced the inadequacy of the system when officials, unable to classify my unique set of impairments, arbitrarily placed me in a category originally intended for athletes with below-the-knee amputations, even though I had both legs.
This is because my sport does not have a classification category for quadriplegic athletes, which is my circumstance. I was told that the IPC did not expect someone with my level of disability to want to compete.
While my misclassification ultimately did not stop me from excelling in my discipline, the same cannot be said for many others.
This broken system leads to unfair competition. Notably, chronic illnesses and complex disabilities, which are increasingly common today, are routinely oversimplified during classification.
Competitors with these conditions do not fit into the existing system that the IPC has put in place and stands behind. Instead, their disability is boiled down to the most similar amputation or spinal cord injury.
Additionally, in some Paralympic sports, athletes with different impairments are grouped together. The same is true in track and field and skiing. This can result in fundamentally unfair competitions, such as a skier missing an arm competing against one missing a leg. In the most extreme cases, sighted athletes compete against blind people.
To address this imbalance, the IPC adjusts competition times based on classification categories, hoping to create fairness. However, this method is not effective. It’s like trying to out race athletes by changing their finish times after the fact – it doesn’t really reflect their abilities or the challenges they face. The current system, while presumably well-intentioned, fails to provide a truly level playing field for anyone involved.
As a result, an athlete with a distinct advantage often emerges as a winner in competitions due to misclassification.
High stakes, abuse and silence
Globally, the problem is compounded by the high stakes involved in Paralympic competition, including sponsorship and national pride. Since 2018, Paralympic medals have been awarded in the United States Increase Up to 400 percent. With significant financial rewards at stake, the pressure to win leads some athletes to cheat. Unlike able-bodied sports where doping is a primary problem, Paralympic athletes can manipulate the classification system by exaggerating or faking their disabilities.
While most athletes do not exploit the system and deserve their praise, cheating does occur. For example, Indian discus thrower Vinod Kumar, who won a bronze medal at the 2021 Summer Paralympics, was later disqualified for deliberately misrepresenting his impairments to compete against more severely disabled athletes. In 2017, British sprinter Bethany Woodward returned her silver medal from the team event, believing it was unfairly earned because a teammate had cheated in classification.
These known cases are only the tip of the iceberg; Many cases of fraud go uncontested. Famous athletes have repeatedly and publicly criticized the classification system, but to no avail.
For example, after the 2022 Winter Paralympics in China, Team USA’s winter and summer star athlete Oksana Masters commented: “Misclassification had a massive, massive impact on athletes … it’s been a problem for too long, and it hasn’t been addressed. “
But most of the athletes have remained silent. That is because those who dare to question or criticize the classification system have faced severe consequences, including threats of exclusion from national teams and withdrawal of funding.
In 2016-17, a review of duty of care carried out British Sport has revealed that British athletes who wanted to speak out about classification fraud were “intimidated and bullied” into silence.
I am also concerned that voicing my concerns may affect my Paralympic career, which is why I have chosen to write under a pseudonym.
Change is urgently needed
I am speaking now because this is important.
Many sports fans can’t tell the difference between the Paralympics and the Special Olympics, let alone watch. For others, this may be just another sporting event.
However, for athletes with disabilities, the Paralympic Games represent a profound story of overcoming adversity and demonstrating human potential. When the integrity of this platform is compromised, it doesn’t just affect the athletes – it undermines the global movement towards equality and recognition in sports.
The current system of the IPC leads to athletes with the least disabilities in their categories winning, while others are set up to fail. This system benefits the few at the top while harming the majority. The IPC is too busy patting athletes on the back to see their struggles.
To preserve the integrity of the Paralympics, the system needs to be overhauled. Admittedly, this is a complex task that requires careful consideration. Independent oversight and input from a diverse group of experts, athletes and advocates is essential.
Introduction of a transparent, dynamic classification process that evolves with medical and technological advances in disability is important. Furthermore, protecting athletes who speak out against injustice is essential to fostering an environment where fair play is a top priority.
As an athlete who stepped into this world hoping to push the limits, I call for a system that truly reflects the resilience and diversity of its competitors. As we rally behind our athletes, let us advocate for fairness in every aspect of their competition. Only then will the Paralympic Games truly honor the athletes they aim to celebrate.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of Al Jazeera.
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