Classifications of Athletes

Bicycling events have different classifications that allow athletes with similar disabilities compete with their like peers. There are men and women catagories. Athletes are initially classified into a category by a certifier. There is only one person in the USA who does certification for bicycling. This is a bit of a “barrier” for new athlete inclusion. The main classifications are LC, CP B&VI and HC. These rules are governed by the UCI, which is the international governing body for the sport of bicycle racing.

B&VI stands for Blind and Visually Impaired. These athletes (stoker) ride a tandem bicycle with a non-impaired athlete (captain). The non-impaired athlete cannot be a professional cyclist. It is to the B&VI athlete’s advantage to get a really fast amateur cyclist for their captain. There are mens and womens categories. These groups are generally really fast.

LC stands for locomotor impairments. There are four subclasses within the LC classification. LC 1 is minor limb locomotor issues. LC 2 is for athletes with disabilities in one leg, but who are able to pedal normally using 2 legs, with or without prostheses. LC 3 is for athletes with disabilities on one lower limb, with or without upper limb disability. Most athletes pedal with one leg. LC 4 is for athletes with more severe disabilities usually affecting both lower limbs, with or without upper limb disability.

CP stands for cerebral palsy. This group is also split into four different levels of classification. It’s numerical ranking is opposite of the LC group, meaning that CP 1 is most disabled group. CP 1 is for the most severely affected athlete. This athlete rides an adult tricycle. Not your average tricycle. These things are pretty fast. CP 2 and 3 allow for athletes a choice of racing on bicycles in division 3, or
tricycles in division 2. CP 4 is for athletes the least severely disabled. These athletes race on standard bicycles.

HC stands for hand cycle. These athletes use their hands/arms/shoulder for the locomotion of their bicycle. These bicycles have three wheels and allow a cyclist to pedal from a kneeling or recumbent position depending on the disability. There are three different classifications within HC. HC A is for the more severely disabled athletes with complete loss of trunk and lower limb function, together with other severe and complex disabilities. HC B is for athletes with complete loss of lower limb function and limited trunk stability. HC C is for athletes with complete lower limb function loss, but minimal other functional disabilities, or partial lower limb function loss combined with other disabilities to make conventional cycling not viable.

These are the very basics of ranking. There is obvious discrepancy within each group. You will sometimes hear non-winners within a group talk about the winners of that group question as to why that person was able to be classified within a certain category. In that regard, these athletes are no different than any other athlete (ha-ha).

Today was a good day for USA Cycling. We competed in the road time trial and won seven medals. The time trial is where a cyclist rides a set course individually as fast as possible. The fastest time within a category wins. The course was a 12.4km loop. HC and some of the CP athletes did one loop, the rest of the athletes did two loops. It was very hot and sunny today. That made for obvious challenges for competition. Check www.usparalympics.org for results. The next two days will be for the road race. This event is a mass start event for categories. The first one to complete the given distance wins. After that, I am back to Seattle. I cannot believe this trip has gone so fast!