Thursday, November 16th, 2023.- Wheelchair basketball, judo, and para powerlifting are three of the sports disciplines featured at the Santiago 2023 Parapan American Games. In this article, we'll tell you what they entail, who can participate, and their scoring systems.

WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL

This discipline employs a classification system to evaluate athletes' functional abilities on a scale from 1.0 to 4.5. Each team consists of 12 players, and the five players on the court during the games cannot accumulate more than 14 points in total.

The discipline follows the regulations of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), with modifications to accommodate wheelchair usage. The ball, court, and hoop are the same as those used in Olympic basketball.

JUDO

The rules and techniques of Parapan American judo are very similar to those of the Pan American version. However, there are some differences: at the start of the competition, athletes begin holding onto each other's gi lapel. Also, when they lose complete contact, the referee interrupts the match, and there's no penalty for going outside the competition area.

The participating athletes belong to two sport classes: J1 (total visual impairment) and J2 (severe visual impairment). Similar to Pan American judo, they are divided into weight categories.

PARA POWERLIFTING

In this sport, athletes lie on a specially designed bench. After grasping or receiving the weighted bar with extended arms, they must await the referee's signal with closed elbows and the bar under control. Then, they lower it to the chest and lift it until their arms are fully extended, with no bent elbows.

Categorized by gender and body weight, participants must have one or more of the following disabilities: muscular strength impairment, limited range of motion, limb deficiency, leg length difference, short stature, hypertonia (stiff muscles), ataxia (loss of muscle coordination), or athetosis (involuntary movements).

The competition rules resemble those of traditional weightlifting; each athlete has three attempts to lift the weight, and the heaviest successful lift within each category determines the final classification.

After each successful attempt, the weight automatically increases by one kilogram, although the athlete can choose to raise a different weight.

Written by Alejandro Pérez; translated by Vicente Valdivia / Santiago 2023 vía Photosport
Photo by Sebastián Nanco / Santiago 2023 vía Photosport