List of Paralympic Games classifications

Paralympic Games classifications group athletes by their level of function to allow for fair competition. There are six general categories of disability that the International Paralympic Committee recognises: amputation, cerebral palsy, visual impairment, spinal injury, intellectual disability and Les Autres (a catch-all term for other disabilities such as achondroplasia and multiple sclerosis).

Each athlete is assessed by an official (called a classifier) who determines the degree to which the athlete's disability impairs their capacity to perform in their chosen Paralympic sport. Based upon this assessment, athletes are placed in a sport-specific classification. The signifier of a classification is typically formed by a combination of letters and numbers. The letters may denote either the type of sporting event or the disability type. The number, or ranking, denotes the severity of the disability (and in some cases, also the disability type), with lower numbers usually indicating more severe impairment.

Depending on the sport, these classifications can either group together or separate athletes who have different categories of disability. For example, goalball and judo are exclusively for visually impaired athletes, while people of any disability category can compete in the same sailing competitions. In athletics, athletes are generally divided by both their disability type and the severity of that disability. Swimming groups those with physical disabilities by severity only, meaning that athletes of different disability types may feature in the same race. Six sports are for wheelchair athletes only: basketball, curling, fencing, rugby, tennis, and volleyball.

Classifications

Letter abbreviation key:

AS = Arms and shoulders
B = Visual impairment
BC = Boccia
C = Bicycle (cycling) or cerebral palsy (football)
D = Disabled
F = Field event
H = Handcycle

LTA = Legs, trunk and arms
MD = Minimally disabled
P = Pentathlon
S = Swimming
SB = Swimming breaststroke
SH = Shooting
SM = Swimming medley

ST = Standing
T = Track (athletics) or tricycle (cycling)
TA = Trunk and arms
TPA = Keelboat, more severe
TPB = Keelboat, less severe
TT = Table tennis
W (or WC) = Wheelchair

Sport	Classification	Disability type	Games
Archery	W1		Summer
	W2		Summer
	ST		Summer
Athletics	T/F11		Summer
	T/F/P12		Summer
	T/F13		Summer
	T/F20		Summer
	T/F31		Summer
	T/F32		Summer
	T/F33		Summer
	T/F34		Summer
	T/F35		Summer
	T/F36		Summer
	T/F37		Summer
	T/F38		Summer
	T/F40		Summer
	T/F42		Summer
	T/F43		Summer
	T/F44		Summer
	T/F45		Summer
	T/F46		Summer
	T/F51		Summer
	T/F52		Summer
	T/F53		Summer
	T/F54		Summer
	F55		Summer
	F56		Summer
	F57		Summer
	F58		Summer
Boccia	BC1		Summer
	BC2		Summer
	BC3		Summer
	BC4		Summer
Cycling	C1		Summer
	C2		Summer
	C3		Summer
	C4		Summer
	C5		Summer
	B		Summer
	H1		Summer
	H2		Summer
	H3		Summer
	H4		Summer
	T1		Summer
	T2		Summer
Equestrian	Grade Ia		Summer
	Grade Ib		Summer
	Grade II		Summer
	Grade III		Summer
	Grade IV		Summer
Football (5-a-side)	B1		Summer
Football (7-a-side)	C5		Summer
	C6		Summer
	C7		Summer
	C8		Summer
Goalball	B1		Summer
	B2		Summer
	B3		Summer
Judo	B1		Summer
	B2		Summer
	B3		Summer
Powerlifting	Minimal disability		Summer
Rowing	LTA		Summer
	TA		Summer
	AS		Summer
Sailing	1		Summer
	2		Summer
	3		Summer
	4		Summer
	5		Summer
	6		Summer
	7		Summer
	MD		Summer
	TPA		Summer
	TPB		Summer
Shooting	SH1A		Summer
	SH1B		Summer
	SH1C		Summer
	SH2A		Summer
	SH2B		Summer
	SH3B		Summer
Sitting volleyball	D		Summer
Sitting volleyball	MD		Summer
Swimming	S1		Summer
	S2		Summer
	S3		Summer
	S4		Summer
	S5		Summer
	S6		Summer
	S7		Summer
	S8		Summer
	S9		Summer
	S10		Summer
	S11		Summer
	S12		Summer
	S13		Summer
	S14		Summer
	SB1		Summer
	SB2		Summer
	SB3		Summer
	SB4		Summer
	SB5		Summer
	SB6		Summer
	SB7		Summer
	SB8		Summer
	SB9		Summer
	SB11		Summer
	SB12		Summer
	SB13		Summer
	SB14		Summer
	SM1		Summer
	SM2		Summer
	SM3		Summer
	SM4		Summer
	SM5		Summer
	SM6		Summer
	SM7		Summer
	SM8		Summer
	SM9		Summer
	SM10		Summer
	SM11		Summer
	SM12		Summer
	SM13		Summer
Table tennis	TT1		Summer
	TT2		Summer
	TT3		Summer
	TT4		Summer
	TT5		Summer
	TT6		Summer
	TT7		Summer
	TT8		Summer
	TT9		Summer
	TT10		Summer
	TT11		Summer
Wheelchair basketball	1 point		Summer
	1.5 points		Summer
	2 points		Summer
	2.5 points		Summer
	3 points		Summer
	3.5 points		Summer
	4 points		Summer
	4.5 points		Summer
Wheelchair fencing	A		Summer
Wheelchair fencing	B		Summer
Wheelchair rugby	0.5 points		Summer
	1 point		Summer
	1.5 points		Summer
	2 points		Summer
	2.5 points		Summer
	3 points		Summer
	3.5 points		Summer
Wheelchair tennis	Open		Summer
Wheelchair tennis	Quad		Summer
Alpine skiiing	Sitting		Winter
	Standing		Winter
	Visually impaired		Winter
Biathlon	Sitting		Winter
	Standing		Winter
	Visually impaired		Winter
Cross-country skiing	Sitting		Winter
	Standing		Winter
	Visually impaired		Winter
Ice sledge hockey	Open class	ALA, CP, VI, WC	Winter
Wheelchair curling	WC	Wheelchair only	Winter

References

How Disabilities are classified within the Paralympic Games. Kent Sport. Retrieved on 2012-09-02.
A-Z of Paralympic classification. BBC Sport (2012-07-23). Retrieved on 2012-09-02.
Classification. London 2012. Retrieved on 2012-09-02.
Paralympics 2012: classifications explained. Daily Telegraph (2012-08-24). Retrieved on 2012-09-02.