• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About DNS
  • Subscribe to DNS
  • Advertise with DNS
  • Support DNS
  • Contact DNS

Disability News Service

the country's only news agency specialising in disability issues

  • Home
  • Independent Living
    • Arts, Culture and Sport
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Employment
    • Housing
    • Transport
  • Activism & Campaigning
  • Benefits & Poverty
  • Politics
  • Human Rights
You are here: Home / News Archive / Lifting of ban means athletes with learning difficulties will compete at 2012

Lifting of ban means athletes with learning difficulties will compete at 2012

By guest on 1st November 2009 Category: News Archive

Listen

Athletes with learning difficulties will be able to compete at the London 2012 Paralympics, after a ban was finally lifted by the world governing body.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) imposed the ban after the 2000 Sydney Paralympics, when nearly all the gold medal-winning Spanish basketball team were found not to have learning difficulties (or intellectual disabilities (ID), as they are categorised by the IPC).

The ban was lifted after the IPC and the International Federation for Sport for Athletes with an Intellectual Disability (INAS-FID) agreed on a strict new testing regime.

Athletes with ID will now fight for medals in four sports at London 2012: athletics, swimming, rowing and table-tennis.

Athletes who want to compete in IPC events – including the Paralympics – will have to submit information including an intelligence test and medical evidence to INAS-FID.

Eligible athletes will then undergo “on-site testing”, which will focus on “sports intelligence” and include tests relevant to that sport.

These on-site tests are not expected to be ready until mid-2010, but eligible athletes can compete until then at the discretion of individual sports federations.

ID swimmers have already competed in the IPC European championships in October in Iceland – their first big competition since Sydney. Seven British swimmers won a total of 12 medals.

One of them was Craig Rodgie, from Fife in Scotland, who won gold in the S14 100m backstroke.

He said “words can’t describe” how he and other ID athletes felt when they realised they would be able to compete at London 2012.

He said: “We have been waiting so long for the inclusion. Just getting the opportunity to be at one of the biggest events in the world, it’s just unbelievable.”

Although he is keen to focus on “one step at a time”, with his next objective next year’s world championships in Eindhoven, he said London 2012 was “where I want to be”.

Tim Reddish, chairman of ParalympicsGB, said: “We have lobbied hard for the re-inclusion of athletes with a learning disability, subject to a robust classification system, and are delighted that IPC and INAS-FID have got us to that point.

“The Paralympic Games represent the pinnacle of high performance sport, so any athletes with a learning disability will have to meet the same exacting performance and qualification standards as all other GB athletes – we will now work hard with the sports to ensure that these athletes are best prepared.”

24 November 2009

Share this post:

Share on X (Twitter)Share on FacebookShare on WhatsAppShare on RedditShare on LinkedIn
A photograph shows an audience raising their hands in a BSL sign. The words say: 'BSL Conference 2025. The future starts with us. Leeds 17-18 July. Be part of shaping the future of Deaf cultures and identities. Get 10% off with BDA10'

Related

‘Muddled’ blue badge reforms ‘are to blame for renewal delays’
6th February 2015
UN debate will be reminder of true inclusive education
6th February 2015
IDS breaks pledge on PIP waiting-times, as tens of thousands still queue for months
30th January 2015

Primary Sidebar

On the left of the image are multiple heads of different colours - white, aqua, red, light brown, and dark green - all grouped together, then the words ‘Campaign for Disability Justice. Sign up to support. #OpportunitySecurityRespect’
A photograph shows an audience raising their hands in a BSL sign. The words say: 'BSL Conference 2025. The future starts with us. Leeds 17-18 July. Be part of shaping the future of Deaf cultures and identities. Get 10% off with BDA10'

Access

Latest Stories

‘Disastrous’ cuts bill that leaves legacy of distrust and distress ‘must be dropped’

Four disabled Labour MPs stand up to government over cuts to disability benefits

Silence from MP sister of Rachel Reeves over suicide linked to PIP flaws, just as government was seeking cuts

Disabled people receiving care were ‘ignored by design’ during the pandemic, Covid inquiry hears

Disabled activists warn Labour MPs who vote for cuts: ‘The gloves will be off’

GB News says it has nothing to apologise for, after guest suggests starving disabled benefit claimants

SEND inspections find services in just one in four areas usually lead to ‘positive’ outcomes for disabled children

Disabled MP who quit government over benefit cuts tells DNS: ‘The consequences will be devastating’

Disabled peers plan to ‘amend, amend, amend, amend, amend’ after assisted dying bill reaches Lords

Minister finally admits that working-age benefits spending is stable, despite months of ‘spiralling’ claims

Advice and Information

Readspeaker
A photograph shows an audience raising their hands in a BSL sign. The words say: 'BSL Conference 2025. The future starts with us. Leeds 17-18 July. Be part of shaping the future of Deaf cultures and identities. Get 10% off with BDA10'

Footer

The International Standard Serial Number for Disability News Service is: ISSN 2398-8924

  • Accessibility Statement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site map
  • Bluesky
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Threads
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2025 Disability News Service

Site development by A Bright Clear Web