Editor’s word: Dr. Meg Fisher is a Canadian-American Paralympian with 4 Paralympic medals and 10 World Championship titles to her identify. She competed on the 2012 and 2016 Paralympic Video games. She’s retired from worldwide para-racing and continues to compete in gravel occasions, setting the boundary of what’s potential with each race she finishes.
When paracycling made its debut on the 1984 Paralympic Video games, simply 22 athletes competed within the seven occasions. Quick ahead to 2024, and paracycling has grown tremendously, with 220 athletes set to compete in Paris. The biking occasions have expanded as nicely. There are actually 51 medal occasions on this system: 17 monitor occasions and 24 highway occasions, which embody 15 highway races and 19 time trials.
In the event you’re like many individuals, you may marvel: Why are there so many occasions? Why not only one highway race for males and one for girls? Nice questions! The Paralympic Video games had been based on the precept of giving athletes with bodily impairments the chance to compete on the highest stage, mirroring the excellence seen within the Olympics. Since athletes have all kinds of impairments, totally different groupings—often known as classifications—had been created to make sure truthful competitors. This is the reason there isn’t only one race per gender.
Within the pursuit of equity, panels of biking specialists and medical professionals have developed a system that teams the athletes not solely by capability but additionally by the kind of bike they use.
4 bike varieties, 4 classes
(Picture credit score: Getty Pictures)
There are 4 forms of bikes used within the Paralympics:
- Typical bicycles
- Tandems
- Handcycles
- Tricycles
Bicycles are grouped beneath the C class. Handcycles, a tricycle powered by a rider’s arms, are given the H designation. B is for tandems ridden by a blind or visually impaired stoker and their sighter pilot. The letter T identifies tricycle occasions.
These tricycles are nothing just like the trikes you’ll have used as a child. The trikes utilized in UCI and Paralympic racing are high-tech racing machines with one wheel up entrance and two within the again. Usually, a Paralympic-level tricycle will function a carbon highway body with a titanium rear axle that accepts two rear wheels, broadening the bike’s base of help and growing stability.
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Classifications inside classes
(Picture credit score: Getty Pictures)
Every class is additional divided into classifications primarily based on the athlete’s stage of bodily capability. These classifications make sure that athletes with related capabilities compete towards one another. The UCI and Paralympic Committee (presently) recognise 13 sport courses throughout women and men: 5 C courses, 5 H courses, one B class, and two T courses.
Inside these courses, athletes are ranked by their bodily skills. For instance, a C5 bicycle owner has better bodily capability than a C1 bicycle owner, simply as an H3 handcyclist may have extra bodily capability than an H2. This detailed system of classification creates a stage taking part in discipline, making certain that competitors is truthful.
The classification system can confuse able-bodied athletes, maybe as a result of it’s a brand new idea. Nonetheless, the concept of equity is as outdated as sport itself. Each sport wants guidelines and nobody deserves an unfair benefit.
Paralympics is sport on the highest stage
(Picture credit score: Getty Pictures)
Throughout the Olympics, a joke typically goes round about how of us want an on a regular basis particular person competed towards Olympians simply to point out how unbelievable Olympic-level efficiency is. I believe the identical ought to be mentioned of the Paralympics. The ability, dedication, and focus required to compete at this stage are unbelievable. Paralympic sport is beautiful, and it deserves the identical awe and admiration.
This 12 months, 22 sports activities will likely be obtainable reside to viewers for the primary time in historical past. This implies viewers worldwide will likely be uncovered to thrilling competitors by athletes with unbelievable skills and bodily impairments. Every Paralympic sport has a singular classification system, so I encourage viewers to be affected person as they be taught new programs.
In line with the World Well being Group, 16% of the world’s inhabitants experiences vital bodily impairment. That’s one in six individuals, or 1.3 billion individuals. Sports activities enable us all to discover our skills, and the Paralympic Video games are the epitome of this.
Verify Biking Weekly’s information to see the paracycling schedule and watch the biking motion.
