Disability Groups

Paralympic athletes are classified according to their type of disability and functional ability. The classification process helps to ensure a certain level of equality and fair competition among the athletes competing in the same category. The disability groups are:

• Amputee:
  Athletes with a partial or total loss of at least one limb.
• Cerebral palsy:
  Athletes with a brain-affected disorder resulting in problems with movement and posture.
• Intellectual disability:
  Athletes with an intellectual disability will not participate in the Salt Lake City 2002 Paralympic Winter Games, due to the suspension of the International Sports Federation for Persons with an Intellectual Disability (INAS-FID), the international organization governing sports for athletes with an intellectual disability, from membership in the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). (Link to document Participation ID Athletes) 
• Spinal cord injuries:
  Athletes with at least a 10 percent loss of function of the lower limbs.
• Visually impaired:
  Athletes who are affected by disorders of vision ranging from partial sight through total blindness.
• Les autres:
  French for “the others”. Athletes who are affected by a range of conditions that do fall into the categories mentioned above, e.g. multiple sclerosis, dwarfism.

Classification

Within each disability group, athletes are classified according to their level of impairment and level of remaining functional ability. Classification systems differ from sport to sport, according to the different skills required to perform the sport.

Classification for Alpine Skiing

Standing Athletes

• LW1:
  Athletes with disabilities in both lower limbs. 
• LW2:
  Athletes with disabilities in one lower limb. 
• LW3:
  Athletes with disabilities in both lower limbs, but of a less severe degree compared to class LW1, and skiing with two normal skis and two poles or two stabilizers. 
• LW4:
  Athletes with disabilities in a lower limb, skiing with two normal skis and two poles. 
• LW5/7:
  Athletes with disabilities in both upper limbs, skiing with two normal skis and without poles. The disability must be such that the functional use of poles is not possible. 
• LW6/8:
  Athletes with disabilities in one upper limb, skiing with two normal skis and one pole. The disability must be such that the functional use of more than one pole is not possible. 
• LW9/1:
  Athletes with disabilities in one upper limb and one lower limb, skiing with the equipment of their choice. Example: those disabled in one upper limb and one lower limb on the same side, severe disability. 
  
• LW9/2:
  Athletes with disabilities in one upper limb and one lower limb skiing with the equipment of their choice. Example: those disabled in one upper limb and one lower limb on the same side, moderate to slight disability.

Sitting Athletes

• LW10:
  Athletes with disabilities in the lower limbs, no functional sitting balance. Athletes with cerebral palsy with disabilities in all four limbs (functional classification), skiing with a sit-ski of their choice.
• LW11:
  Athletes with disabilities in the lower limbs and a fair sitting balance. Athletes with cerebral palsy with disabilities in lower extremities, skiing with a sit-ski of their choice. 
• LW12:
  Athletes with spinal-cord lesion or other disabilities, with function in the lower limbs and a good sitting balance, skiing with a sit-ski of their choice. 

Visually Impaired Athletes

(All classifications in best eye with best correction)

• B1:
  From no light perception in either eye to light perception, but inability to recognize the shape of a hand at any distance or in any direction. 
• B2:
  From ability to recognize the shape of a hand to a visual acuity of 2/60 and/or visual field of less than 5 degrees. 
• B3:
  From visual acuity above 2/60 to visual acuity of 6/60 and/or visual field of more than 5 degrees and less than 20 degrees.