How can our organization apply a sport to be included in the Paralympic Programme?
Any sport that wishes to be considered for the Paralympic Games must apply at least seven years before the Paralympic Games in question. The Paralympic Programme is re-evaluated each quadrennium to ensure that each sport meets specific criteria in order to maintain elite standards. The criteria are based on the principles of quality, quantity and universality. Quality refers to the competitive quality of events and disciplines offered on a sport’s quadrennial competition programme. Quantity refers to the number of nations widely practicing a sport at elite level. Universality refers to the number of regions a sport is widely practiced in. The specific criteria is outlined in the IPC Handbook. The review process respects the autonomy of the different sports by evaluating them based on official results from competitions over the last quadrennium. This means that, for instance, a sport aiming to be on the 2008 Paralympic Summer Games would be evaluated based on results and data between th
