The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Governing Board has progressed 23 sports to the next stage of assessment for inclusion in the Paris 2024 Paralympic sport programme.
At its meeting in Madrid, Spain, on 10 and 11 September, the Board also decided not to approve the inclusion of Para bobsleigh in the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games after the sport failed to meet the criteria for admission.
After a thorough review of applications from 28 sports for inclusion in Paris 2024, the sports that will proceed to the next stage are the 22 sports included in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, together with CP Football.
Sports had until 9 July to complete application packs that featured a series of questions that gave the IPC detailed information regarding each sport’s governance, rules and regulations, anti-doping programme compliance and activities, worldwide reach, quadrennial competition programme and procedures to ensure athlete welfare. Classification Code compliance was also assessed and the IPC considered the costs and complexity of operations on the Paris 2024 Organising Committee, in line with Olympic Agenda 2020 and the New Norm.
Golf, karate, Para dance sport, powerchair football and sailing will not be considered further for inclusion in Paris 2024 after failing to meet the inclusion criteria in a number of areas.
Following the Board’s decision, the IPC will now provide feedback to the remaining 23 sports and ask several of them for further information to be submitted by 3 December. The IPC Governing Board will then decide on the final Paris 2024 Paralympic sport programme at its meeting in January. Feedback will also be provided to the five sports that have been eliminated from the Paris 2024 race.
Andrew Parsons, IPC President, said: “I would like to congratulate the 23 sports that have reached the next stage of the process for inclusion in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. At the same time I would like to pass on my commiserations to those sports that will not proceed further. I hope these international federations take on board the feedback we will give them and are assured that the IPC will continue to work with them in the ongoing development of their sports.
“After reviewing all the applications it is clear that the level of competition to be included in the Paralympic programme is higher than ever before with all sports making progress since the last time we conducted this exercise four years ago for Tokyo 2020.
“We want the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games to showcase the best possible Para sports with the strongest global appeal. Following review of the further information we receive from international federations we will make our final decision on the number of sports and which sports are included in January once we have full agreement from the IOC and Paris 2024.”
The IPC’s decision not to include Para bobsleigh in the Beijing 2022 Paralympics comes after the sport failed to meet one of the minimum requirements laid out by the IPC Governing Board in September 2016. When the IPC provisionally approved the sport for inclusion it said a minimum of 12 nations from at least three regions should be regularly participating in each of the 2016/17 and 2017/18 seasons. The sport has fallen short of this requirement.
“I know there will be a lot of disappointed athletes by this decision, but the truth of the matter is that bobsleigh, despite its ongoing development, has not fulfilled the criteria for inclusion in the Paralympic Winter Games,” said Parsons.
“We hope the sport will continue to develop over the coming years so that it is in a stronger position for inclusion in the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games sport programme.”
During the meeting, the Board provisionally approved the IPC membership of the National Paralympic Committee of Malta, pending ratification by the 2019 IPC General Assembly in Bonn, Germany.
Regarding the IPC Athletes’ Council, the Board approved that Singaporean boccia player Nurulasyiqah Mohammad Taha and South Korean track and field athlete Suk Man Hong – two co-opted members – could have their terms extended for a further two years. The appointment of South Africa’s Natalie du Toit as a third co-opted member of the Council was approved.
Chelsey Gotell, the IPC Athletes’ Council chairperson, said: “As part of our commitment to ensure the representation of high support needs athletes and each region on the IPC Athletes’ Council, I am very pleased that the Board agreed to the reappointment of two co-opted members and one new one.
“Natalie du Toit is one of the most high-profile athletes from Africa to compete in the Paralympic Games and will bring to the Council a vast wealth of experience and knowledge. As Head of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee’s Athletes’ Commission and a member of the Commonwealth Games Federation Athletes’ Advisory Commission, she is well placed to represent the views of the athlete community.”
Following the IPC Gathering in Madrid, which attracted more than 200 people from over 100 IPC members, the IPC Governing Board discussed the key outcomes of the discussions and next steps relating to the creation of the IPC Strategic Plan 2019-2023. The next steps with regards to the IPC Governance Review were also agreed.
The IPC Governing Board will next meet in January 2019.
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