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Para-alpine skiing classification is the classification system for para-Alpine skiing designed to ensure fair competition between alpine skiers with different types of disabilities. The classifications are grouped into three general disability types: standing, blind and sitting. Classification governance is handled by International Paralympic Committee Alpine Skiing. Prior to that, several sport governing bodies dealt with classification including the International Sports Organization for the Disabled (ISOD), International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation (ISMWSF), International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) and Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CP-ISRA). Some classification systems are governed by bodies other than International Paralympic Committee Alpine Skiing, such as the Special Olympics. The sport is open to all competitors with a visual or physical disability. It is not open to people with intellectual disabilities. The first classification systems for para-Alpine skiing were developed in Scandinavia in the 1960s, with early systems designed for skiers with amputations. At the time, equipment had yet to be developed to allow participation for skiers with spinal cord injuries. The goal of the early classification systems was to be functional but ended up being medical classification systems. At the first Winter Paralympics in 1976, there were two classifications for the sport. By the 1980s, classification existed for skiers with cerebral palsy. At that time, with inspiration from wheelchair basketball classification, efforts were made to make classification more of a functional system. Ten classes existed by the 1980s, and since then, efforts have been made to improve the efficiency of classification by reducing the number of classes so fewer medals can be rewarded. Competition rules for classes use rules set by or modified from rules created by the International Ski Federation. For skiers with visual impairments, guides are used to assist the skier down the course. For standing skiers, different class rules determine what sort of equipment is allowed in competition, such as one pole, two poles or no poles, or one or two skis. Sit skiers use a specially designed ski called a mono-ski. Skiers are classified based on medical assessment, and their body position when they ski. Blind skiers are evaluated purely on a medical assessment. ==Definition== The para-Alpine skiing classification system ensures fair competition in the sport by categorising skiers according to their functional mobility or vision impairment.〔〔 Classification for amputees is based on their mobility with the use of an assistive device.〔〔 People with cerebral palsy in classifications from CP1 to CP8 are covered by skiing classifications. Skiers from CP5 to CP8 compete standing up with the use of equipment.〔 The blind classifications are based on medical classification, not functional classification.〔 In 1995, the classifications for skiing were LW1, LW2, LW3, LW4, LW5/7, LW6/8, and LW9,〔 where LW stands for Locomotor Winter.〔 There were three sit-ski classifications: LW10, LW11 and LW12.〔 Classification for competitors with cerebral palsy is difficult because the levels of spasticity can change as the race progresses.〔 File:B1 class.png|Visualisation of functional vision for a B1 competitor File:B2 class.png|Visualisation of functional vision for a B2 competitor File:B3 class.png|Visualisation of functional vision for a B3 competitor There are 9 standing classifications, on a gradient of most severe being LW1 and LW9 being the least severe.〔 Sit skiing has three classifications, LW10, LW11 and LW12. These are grouped from the most severe at LW10 to least severe at LW12.〔 LW10 have T5-T10 paraplegia.〔 In 2010, there were three vision impaired classifications, B1, B2 and B3. These classifications based on a gradient with B1 being the most severe and B3 being the least severe, with B3 skiers having vision around 2/60 to 6/60.〔 Beyond the level of vision impairment, research done at the Central Institute on Employment Abilities of the Handicapped in Moscow has found differences in functional capabilities based on differences in visual acuity, which plays a significant role in skiing.〔 In 1997, one of the international alpine skiing classifiers was Mirre Kipfer. She said "Sometimes athletes try to cheat, to hide what they can really do. They are athletes who want to be in a class that is more advantageous to for them. In testing and classification they don't show what they can really do. They try to show that they are not able to do some movement, and that is why we have started functional testing." She goes on to say "The second problem is that when you have a very good athlete who is very well trained in the sport, you don't want to punish that person for their good performance. He or she might be an elite athlete doing a very good sport performance, and you might be tempted to say 'OK, he is doing so well he must be in another class.' We do try to get fewer classes so that we don't get, for example, 10 or 12 gold medals in alpine sports. We try to review the classes, but you always have borderline classes and it is always difficult. In winter the aim is to have three classes, like sitting, standing and blind: that is certainly the future that we are all looking to."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Para-alpine skiing classification」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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