Para-archery classification

Para-archery classification is the classification system for para-archery used to create a level playing field for archers with a different range of disabilities. Governance in the sport is through the International Archery Federation. Early classification systems for the sport were created during the 1940s and based on medical classification. This has subsequently changed to a functional mobility classification with the exception of blind archery.

Para-archery classification at the Paralympic Games is the basis for determining who can compete in the sport, and within which class. It is used for the purposes of establishing fair competition. Entry is eligible to male and female athletes with a physical disability. The blind classifications are based on medical classification, no functional classification.

People with cerebral palsy are eligible to compete in archery. The Cerebral Palsy-International Sports and Recreation Association (CP-ISRA) classes of CP3, CP4, CP5, CP6, CP7 and CP8 have counterparts with the classification system used by the World Archery Federation.

Governance in the sport is through the International Archery Federation (also known as the World Archery Federation or Fédération International de Tir à l’Arc – FITA) and is overseen by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The IPC transferred its governance to FITA in 2009 as part of the IPC’s program to move governance to sport-specific bodies. FITA sets the rules for competition in the World Archery Book: the most recent version effective as of 1 April 2012. In 1983, the rules for this sport and approval for classification was done by the Federation Internationale de Tir Al'Arc.

The classification for this sport was created during the 1940s and for much of its early history was a medical condition based classification system. In 1964, the International Sport Organization for the Disabled (ISOD) was created. They created the first formal classification system, which had 27. This was reduced to 12 classifications for the 1976 Summer Paralympics and was further reduced to nine classifications for the 1992 Summer Paralympics. In 1983, classification for cerebral palsy competitors in this sport was undertaken by the Cerebral Palsy-International Sports and Recreation Association (CP-ISRA). The classification was based upon the system designed for field athletics events. There were five cerebral palsy classifications for its competitors. Class 1 and Class 2 competitors could compete in the division 1, class 1 and class 2 events. They defined cerebral palsy as a non-progressive brain lesion that results in impairment. People with cerebral palsy or non-progressive brain damage were eligible for classification by them. The organisation also dealt with classification for people with similar impairments. For their classification system, people with spina bifida were not eligible unless they had medical evidence of loco-motor dysfunction. People with cerebral palsy and epilepsy were eligible provided the condition did not interfere with their ability to compete. People who had strokes were eligible for classification following medical clearance. Competitors with multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy and arthrogryposis were not eligible for classification by CP-ISRA, but were eligible for classification by International Sports Organisation for the Disabled for the Games of Les Autres. By the early 1990s, the archery classification had moved away from medical based ones to a functional classification system. Going into the 2000 Summer Paralympics, there were concerns raised by members of the cerebral palsy community about the need to maintain a multiple functional classification system inside this sport specifically for this class of athletes given the large range of functional ability inside the community with cerebral palsy and other motor functional disabilities. Because of issues in objectively identifying functionality that plagued the post Barcelona Games, the IPC unveiled plans to develop a new classification system in 2003. This classification system went into effect in 2007, and defined ten different disability types that were eligible to participate on the Paralympic level. It required that classification be sport specific, and served two roles. The first was that it determined eligibility to participate in the sport and that it created specific groups of sportspeople who were eligible to participate and in which class. The IPC left it up to International Federations to develop their own classification systems within this framework, with the specification that their classification systems use an evidence based approach developed through research.

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