News

This weekend a record was set in Astana. Since the introduction of the new categories in 2022, the number of athletes reached a milestone of over 400 judoka for para-judo.

After the Tokyo Paralympic Games, para-judo was completely restructured. Before then the former B1, B2 and B3 categories (from blind and almost blind to less visually impaired) were always combined in competition. As a result, the number of B1 and B2 athletes remained quite small as they were struggling against more sighted opponents.

The FEI has announced the launch of a new Guide, designed to assist Event Organisers with improving accessibility for athletes, staff and spectators with disabilities, ensuring that everyone can enjoy equestrian events regardless of their disability and mobility levels.

This Guide, which is the result of consultation and collaboration with accessibility experts, individuals with disabilities and professionals in the equestrian industry, covers venue layout, accommodation and transportation among other areas of Event planning and delivery.

With gender equality and women’s empowerment high on sporting agendas, the Association of Paralympic Sports Organisations (APSO) held the second edition of its Women’s Leadership Course from 13 February to 6 March, to support the development and active participation of women in decision-making within para sport organisations worldwide.

People with physical disabilities will soon have a new and exciting organisation to look towards to access grassroots, recreational and high-performance sports: World Abilitysport. 

The new body is being established after the merger of the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS) and Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CPISRA), two founding members of the Paralympic Movement, became official at the end of 2022. 

Para-cyclists from the world over participated in a training camp at the UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC) in Aigle, Switzerland, last week.

Alongside the para-cycling camp, 14 people attended a course for National Classifiers, and anothereight followed a classification module as part of the UCI WCC’s Level 2 coaching certificate.

Former World Curling Federation President, Kate Caithness CBE has become the first recipient of the newly created “Honorary Member of the World Curling Federation” title.

This new honorific is a gift that may be offered by the World Curling Federation Board and can be awarded to those who have given significant and outstanding service to the Federation and have completed their full term on the Board.

Caithness completed her full 12-year term as the World Curling Federation President in September 2022.

IBSA Football Sport Committee has just released new manuals to help children and female players start playing Blind Football. The manual was created with the support of UEFA, one of the most important partners that IBSA and IBSA Football have to continue working on the development of Blind and Partially Sighted Football.

The playing field is set for the 2022 IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championships which will take place between the 9 – 20 June 2023.

Hosts United Arab Emirates will welcome over 300 international wheelchair basketball players representing the following 12 women’s and 16 men’s teams to compete over twelve days of competition at the showcase event:

WOMEN’S

Athletes are the beating heart of the Paralympic Movement and it is for that reason that during the HULIC DAIHATSU Para Badminton World Championships 2022, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) lead a series of development workshops throughout the week, collaborating with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) on the Proud Paralympian Programme to help Paralympians on their sporting journey. 

The World Junior-B Curling Championships and World Wheelchair-B Curling Championship will return to the Kisakallio Sports Institute in Lohja, Finland for the 2023 and 2024 editions of each championship.

The Kisakallio Sports Institute has hosted the wheelchair curling event six times previously — in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022. It held the Junior-B event five times in the past — in 2016, 2018, 2019, January 2022 and December 2022.