Why are people in pain and have fibromyalgia all excluded from the Paralympics?

verityc

This isn't fair. They say that pain can't be measured but it can. It just bugs me that the Paralympics should be for all people who are disabled whether it's visible or not. It gives off the wrong message if it's just for amputees etc!

WhatThe

Who's the etc?

Are you really jealous of amputees??

Which sport would you choose to compete in while you're in pain?

verityc

What I'm trying to say is that not all people with disabilities are visible that's all. And the paraolympics is only promoting people with visible ones

poppy123456

It's not just amputees that compete, there's other disabilities too, such as vision impairment, Intellectual impairment, short stature and the list goes on..

https://www.paralympic.org/classification#:~:text=The%2010%20Eligible%20I,length%20difference%2C%20hypertonia%2C%20ataxia%2C

verityc

All with visual disabilities

poppy123456

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/904203#Comment_904203

That's not true either. Intellectual impairments aren't visible.

Albus_Scope

There's many taking part in the paralympics who have hidden disabilities as others have said. Who knows, some of them may have fibro as well, but we just haven't asked? 😉

Speaking of which, it's time for wheelchair basketball, hooray!

verityc

People with fibromyalgia are not eligible to compete in the Paralympics because fibromyalgia is not listed as an eligible impairment in the International Paralympic Committee's (IPC) International Standard for Eligible Impairments. Other ineligible impairments include chronic fatigue syndrome, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  

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The Paralympics are a chance for the world's top disabled athletes to compete against each other on an international stage. The Paralympics also help to demonstrate the range of disabilities, including visual impairments, amputees, and dwarfism.  

verityc

The above fibromyalgia etc they mentioned are invisible illnesses and this is my point.

MW123

@verityc

No specific disability or hidden illness is automatically excluded from the Paralympics. What matters most is demonstrating how a condition affects an athlete's ability to compete. The Paralympics classify athletes based on the degree to which their condition impacts their performance in a sport, not just the condition's name.

For athletes with conditions like fibromyalgia or chronic pain, this classification process can be challenging, as these conditions are often variable and highly individualised. However, if athletes can provide consistent and reliable evidence, such as medical records, performance assessments, or relevant studies showing how their condition affects their ability to compete, they may be able to compete in existing categories.

Furthermore, if there is enough interest and similarity in needs among athletes, there could even be potential to advocate for new classification categories.

Jimm_Scope

I think it is an interesting discussion though, as they do categorise people into certain groups based on many different criteria. I wonder if there's somewhere you can see all that criteria? (I don't have the time just now to actually see if it is publicly available)

WhatThe

I read that deaf people can't compete in these games without a secondary qualifying condition.

egister

Separate Paralympic Games are also discrimination. I think disabled people should compete at the same time as non-disabled people. Everyone pays taxes, right?

WhatThe

Men and women at the same time too?

egister

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/905873#Comment_905873

Within the general Olympic Games there must be competitions (men against men), (women against women), (disabled people against disabled people) and (LGBT against LGBT). And give everyone the same medals.