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Paraclimbing

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Cardeville (talk | contribs) at 02:02, 3 November 2022 (→‎Classification in Para climbing: Added additional independent third party citations.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

  • Comment: All the sources cited are primary, and mostly seem to be close to the subject, therefore unable to establish notability per WP:GNG. DoubleGrazing (talk) 18:24, 28 September 2022 (UTC)

Para climbing is competitive climbing for disabled athletes.

The classification system defines who is eligible to compete in Para climbing and groups athletes with an eligible impairment into sports classes. Athletes are placed into a sport class based on how much their impairment affects their ability to carry out the fundamental activities in Para climbing.[1]

Sports classification for competitions differentiates Para climbing from adaptive climbing in general.

History of Para climbing

The IFSC has been hosting Para climbing competitions since the first international event in 2006 in Ekaterinburg, Russia. The sport grew, and a regular circuit was added to the IFSC calendar from 2010. IFSC Para Climbing World Championships have taken place since 2011. The IFSC Para Climbing World Championships run alongside the IFSC Climbing World Championships, promoting Para athletes on the same stage as other athletes.[2][3]

In January 2017, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) granted the IFSC the status of “Recognised International Federation”.[4]

Future of Para climbing

In October 2018, the IFSC announced a plan for developing Para climbing.[2] The IFSC Strategic Plan 2020-2028 includes plans to "professionalise Para climbing to meet IPC standards and aim at its inclusion in future Paralympic Games editions, starting from Los Angeles 2028."[5]

In 2023, three Para Climbing World Cups (Innsbruck in Austria, Swiss venue Villars and an unspecified location in the United States) and the World Championships[6] (Bern, Switzerland) are planned.[7]

Para climbing competition formats

In competition climbing, there are 3 climbing formats: Lead, Speed, Boulder. Lead is the dominant format.[8]

In competitions, ranking is based on the furthest reached height while climbing. Competitors try unknown routes until they fall. If rankings are the same, previous round results or time is used to rank the athletes.[8]

Who can participate and classification in Para climbing

A wide range of different people take part in Para climbing, including visually impaired climbers, climbers with limb differences[9] and those with brain injuries or mobility impairments.[10][11]

To ensure a fair competition, Para athletes are classified in order to compete against those with a similar level of impairment. Under the IFSC classification system, there are 10 different sport classes:

  • Blind Sport Classes (B1, B2, B3)
  • Amputees (AU1, AU2, AL1, AL2)
  • Limited reach, power or stability (RP1, RP2, RP3)

Higher numbers equate to higher functionality (less impairment), lower numbers equate to lower functionality (more impairment).[12]

Before an official IFSC event (World Cup or World Championships), there is an evaluation session for those who require classification. During this evaluation session, classifiers test the Para athlete in order to determine the correct sport class for them. Medical documentation is checked by the classifiers in advance.

References

  1. ^ "Classification in Para sport". Paralympics New Zealand. Retrieved 2022-06-28.
  2. ^ a b "Paraclimbing". www.ifsc-climbing.org. Retrieved 2022-06-28.
  3. ^ DiNunzio, Jeff (2014-08-19). "A Group Lifts Paraclimbers to Higher Goals". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
  4. ^ "The IPC Governing Board concludes three days of meetings in Bonn". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 2022-06-28.
  5. ^ "IFSC UNVEILS 2020-2028 STRATEGIC PLAN". www.ifsc-climbing.org. Retrieved 2022-06-28.
  6. ^ "IFSC Climbing World Championships 2023 Bern". Climbing- und Paraclimbing-WM Bern 2023. 2022-02-22. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
  7. ^ "IFSC to hold three Paraclimbing World Cup events in 2023 including one in US". www.insidethegames.biz. 2022-09-14. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
  8. ^ a b "What is Paraclimbing?". Paraclimbing News. Retrieved 2022-06-28.
  9. ^ "World champs to be valuable experience for climber". NZ Herald. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
  10. ^ "ARTICLE: The Rise of the UK Paraclimbing Community". www.ukclimbing.com. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
  11. ^ "Hiking Mt. Whitney is tough. With a spinal cord injury, it's an endless suffer-fest". Los Angeles Times. 2021-09-22. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
  12. ^ "Classification". Paraclimbing News. Retrieved 2022-06-28.
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