When Paralympic athletes fake the extent of their disability

By Jaime Schultz, Penn State More than 4,000 athletes with physical, vision and intellectual impairments will compete in 22 sports during the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. Within those 22 sports, there will be 549 medal events. That number seems high because several sports include multiple “sport classes,” which are used to even the playing field for athletes with different disabilities. Some athletes compete in classes based on their specific impairment. Other classes include athletes with a range of different impairment types that result in similar degrees of “activity limitation,” as the International Paralympic Committee puts it. For example, swimmers with physical impairments compete in categories that range from “S1” to “S10.” S indicates swimming; the number is the sport class. The lower the number, the more severe the limitation. So the S10 class might include competitors with hip restrictions, foot amputations, or cerebral palsy. They all compete in the same group because their different impairments similarly affect their swimming abilities. The IPC sees this as akin to grouping athletes by age, gender and weight. Despite the rigor and training that goes into the classification process, problems arise. Sport classes can be broad, putting some competitors at a disadvantage. Classification...