Austria at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
Template:Infobox Paralympics Austria
Austria is planning to send athletes to the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016.
Support
“Project Rio 2016” was created by the government to support Paralympic athletes seeking to qualify for the Rio Games. Austrian Minister of Sport Gerald Klug met with Paralympians Andreas Onea and Sabine Weber-Treiber as part of this program.[1]
Disability classifications
Every participant at the Paralympics has their disability grouped into one of five disability categories; amputation, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories; visual impairment, including blindness; Les autres, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example dwarfism or multiple sclerosis.[2][3] Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent upon the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing. Some sports, such as athletics, divide athletes by both the category and severity of their disabilities, other sports, for example swimming, group competitors from different categories together, the only separation being based on the severity of the disability.[4]
Cycling
With one pathway for qualification being one highest ranked NPCs on the UCI Para-Cycling male and female Nations Ranking Lists on 31 December 2014, Austria qualified for the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, assuming they continued to meet all other eligibility requirements.[5][6]
Paracanoeing
Austria earned a qualifying spot at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in this sport following their performance at the 2015 ICF Canoe Sprint & Paracanoe World Championships in Milan, Italy where the top six finishers in each Paralympic event earned a qualifying spot for their nation. Markus Mendy Swoboda earned the spot for Austria after finishing first in the men's KL2 event.[7][8]
Sailing
One pathway for qualifying for Rio involved having a boat have top seven finish at the 2015 Combined World Championships in a medal event where the country had nor already qualified through via the 2014 IFDS Sailing World Championships. Austria qualified for the 2016 Games under this criteria in the 2.4m event with a ninth-place finish overall and the first country who had not qualified via the 2014 Championships. The boat was crewed by Sven Reiger.[9][10][11]
Swimming
Swimmers Andreas Onea and Sabine Weber-Treiber were Paralympic swimmers who benefited from the Austrian government's “Project Rio 2016”.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b "The Paralympian" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
- ^ "Paralympics categories explained". ABC. 3 September 2008. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
- ^ "Making sense of the categories". BBC Sport. 6 October 2000. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
- ^ "A-Z of Paralympic classification". BBC Sport. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
- ^ "CYCLING QUALIFICATION" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- ^ "Ranking — PARA — Cycling 2014". UCI. 31 December 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- ^ "CANOE Qualification" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- ^ "2015 ICF Canoe Sprint & Paracanoe World Championships - Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Qualifier" (PDF). International Canoe Federation. 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- ^ "Sailing Qualification" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
- ^ "2.4m". Royal Yacht Club Victoria. 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
- ^ "Ten countries guarantee their place in the Rio 2016 Paralympic sailing competition". Rio 2016 Official Website. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
.svg){kind=logo}