THOUSANDS of athletes who will compete in the National Paralympic Week (Peparnas) XVII Solo 2024, for three days, from Thursday (3/10) to Saturday (5/10) underwent physical classification test procedures at Manahan Stadium.
“This test aims to group each athlete into categories according to their obstacles and degree of disability,” said the Executive Secretary of PB Peparnas XVII, Rima Ferdianto at the East Tribune at Manahan Stadium, Saturday (5/10).
According to him, the classification process is one of the most important parts in every multi-event disability sports event, including Peparnas XVII in Solo.
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Following this test procedure, he continued, becomes a reference for whether the athlete who wants to participate is worthy of competing in the number they will participate in.
Rima further explained that the process of grouping athletes is based on the severity of their disability. This means that athletes with a low degree of severity cannot be pitted against those with a high degree of severity.
“For example, a wheelchair athlete whose disability is due to polio. His waist is still strong. This cannot be compared to a wheelchair athlete who has paraplegia and tetraplegia, because this kind of disability is weak from the waist down,” said Rima, Saturday (5/10).
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It should be noted that paraplegia is paralysis of half of the body from the hips down. Tetraplegia is paralysis that causes partial or complete loss of function in the arms, legs, trunk and pelvis.
That’s why a classification procedure is needed to determine how severe the level of disability is. So, if they are of the same rank, then when they compete they are expected to be more even. “This classification aims to fulfill the principles of justice,” said Rima.
What is clear is that the classification round is to classify athletes with physical barriers, intellectual barriers, hearing barriers and visual impairments. These four obstacles will again be classified based on their respective sports.
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Rima explained that the classification process was only intended for new athletes who would compete in Peparnas XVII. This is because athletes who are already in the elite category no longer need to participate, considering that they already have an international classification card.
“So, what needs to be classified are new athletes or athletes who have been classified but with review notes. They just need to be reclassified. Meanwhile, athletes competing in elite numbers do not need to follow the classification, because they already have an international classification whose status is higher than Peparna XVII. ,” he snapped.
A number of athletes said they were happy with the implementation of the classification procedure. Like the shooting athletes who will represent the Riau Islands, Jamaluddin said he was happy to be able to go through this classification process smoothly.
After going through the classification test, he will take SH 1 class according to the character of his disability. Peparnas in Solo is the second appearance after the Papua edition in 2021.
At that time, Jamaludin failed to bring home a medal because he only finished in fifth place. For this edition, he is targeting one gold.
“In shooting sports, there are classes SH 1 and SH 2. For SH 1, the disability classification is the legs, while for SH 2, one of the hands must have a disability,” said Jamaluddin.
Another athlete, Poncowolo, who represents East Kalimantan in the archery sport, admitted that he understands the regulations set for the grouping of disabled athletes.
“There are elite and non-elite athletes. These elite athletes are those who have participated in the ASEAN Para Games, Asian Para Games and Paralympics. Meanwhile, these non-elite athletes are those who have never appeared in international multi-event events,” he said.
According to the development of disability sports in Indonesia, it has become increasingly advanced. He witnessed this himself after participating in the two previous editions of PEPARNAS, namely when it took place in Riau in 2016 and Papua in 2021. (N-2)
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