[Sportsandrec] Classification system can be a hurdle for Paralympic athletes

[Gaston Bedard]

Classification system can be a hurdle for Paralympic athletes

'It's really difficult to draw the line' in assessing who is qualified to
compete

By Chris Brown, Chris Corday, CBC News,  September 10, 2016.

 Amy Burk, who is visually impaired, has been a competitive goalball player
for 13 years at an elite level, but was told her vision wasn't poor enough
to play. She appealed and was reinstated.
Amy Burk, who is visually impaired, has been a competitive goalball player
for 13 years at an elite level, but was told her vision wasn't poor enough
to play. She appealed and was reinstated. (Chris Corday/CBC) 
 
The Paralympics may be attracting decent crowds and loyal fans in Rio de
Janeiro, but the classification system of deciding who competes and against
whom is confounding for them - and even for some athletes.

"I'd love to see it get fixed a little better," said Amy Burk, a Team Canada
goalball player, who's visually impaired.

Goalball involves three players per team throwing a rubber ball that makes
noise as it rolls, with the opposite side trying to pull off diving saves.

Burk, 26, started playing as a young teen and by 2011 was a two-time world
champion. 

But then, with Canada preparing to host the 2015 Para-Pan Am Games in
Toronto she got a shock. 

An assessment determined her impairment wasn't severe enough to qualify her
as a disabled athlete, and she was forced out of the tournament. 
Amy Burk
As an albino, Amy Burk says, her vision can vary. Conditions on the day of
the classification test worked against her. "We are very light sensitive so
it could just be the lighting in the room or little things like that."
(Chris Corday/CBC)

"It's unfortunate to be playing a sport your whole life and then to be told
one day, you can't play anymore," said Burk. She  sat out the Para  Pan-Ams
but after hiring a lawyer and appealing she was reinstated. 

As an albino, Burk  says her vision can vary and conditions on the day of
the classification test worked against her. "We are very light-sensitive so
it could just be the lighting in the room or little things like that." 

CBC Paralympic commentator and former Paralympic swimmer Stephanie Dixon
says Burk's case points to some of the arbitrariness in the way athletes
with disabilities are classified. 

"It's really difficult to draw the line," said Dixon. 

The Canadian Paralympic Committee's website notes the purpose of classes is
to ensure athletes with similar functions and abilities compete against each
other. 

Swimming, for example, with 14 classes, has the most of any sport, ranging
from mild impairment to severe. 

Sometimes swimmers with partial leg amputations will be put in the same
category as those missing a forearm, for example. 

"You have many different types of disabilities competing against each other,
so it's always how the disability affects your performance, not just your
disability," said Dixon. 

Paralympian and 2012 medalist Bethany Woodward is one of several British
athletes who have alleged widespread cheating within the classification
system.

Woodward claimed some athletes at the London games faked or exaggerated
disabilities to get into a more favourable classification where they stood a
better chance of winning. 

British Athletics has said it will investigate the claims after the Rio
games.

Beijing Paralympics Swimming
Canada's Stephanie Dixon prepares to start in the final of the Women's 50
metre freestyle at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. Dixon, a multiple
Paralympic medal winner, says the classification system is generally fair
but can produce some strange results. (Associated Press)

Peter Van de Vliet, head of the International Paralympic Committee's medical
committee, told CBC News the classification system is robust. 

"There has been significant amount of training done for those in charge of
the process so that across the board, the system is fair,  transparent and
understandable." 

Dixon says she also supports the classification system but argues the IPC
needs to ensure situations such as Amy Burk's don't happen - and to keep it
as simple as possible for the benefit of fans.


http://www.cbc.ca/sports/paralympics/paralympics-classification-amy-burk-1.3
755689


end of article.