Peculiarities of sports classification for athletes with mental and physical disabilities

Abstract

The article discusses the question of determining whether athletes with mental and physical disabilities belong to a certain classification group which determines the athlete's right to participate in the Paralympic Games. It has been established that sports classification is a necessary condition for the participation in competitions of athletes sanctioned by the International Paralympic Committee. It has been proven that in Paralympic sports the result depends not only on the abilities of the athlete, the professionalism of the coach, material and technical support, but also on the preserved movement capabilities of the disabled person. The purpose of the article is to study the peculiarities of the classification of athletes with mental and physical disabilities for participation in the Paralympic Games and Special Olympics. The status of an athlete with mental and physical disabilities in a certain classification group ІІ1, ІІ2, ІІ3 indicates whether the athlete at the national level must undergo an assessment in the future or whether it is permanent. The status of an athlete in a certain classification group II1, II2, II3 at the national level which is determined by a psychologist/classifier after the evaluation procedure, will be one of the following: 1) new: the athlete is given the status of “new” until he visits the first psychological assessment procedure held by a psychologist/ classifier; 2) under observation (review): if the psychologist/classifier believes that additional psychological assessment procedures are needed, or all primary documents were not provided or the athlete demonstrated a lack of cooperation during the classification; 3) permanent: a) in the case of already passed and approved international classification; b) in the event that the classification group (psychologist/classifier, doctor) is satisfied that the specified impairment of intelligence or other deviations of adaptive behavior, additional impairments of the athlete, his ability to perform certain tasks and actions fundamental for athletics, swimming and table tennis remain stable; 4) inadequate: a) in case of non-compliance with the specified criteria of any classification group; b) in the case of diagnosed atlantoaxial instability in athletes with Down syndrome.