Archery

ARW 1: Archers in this sport class compete in a wheelchair because their impairment includes the loss of leg and trunk function. Also, their arms show a loss of muscle strength, co-ordination or range of movement.

ARW 2: Similar to archers in the sport class ARW1, archers in this sport class have a strong activity limitation in their trunk and legs and compete in a wheelchair. Their arms, however, show full function.

ARST: This sport class includes athletes competing in a standing position and those who require some standing support because of poor balance. They either have a leg-length difference, limb deficiency or impairments that also affect their arms and trunk.

Athletics

In athletics, the sport classes consist of a prefix T (for track) or F (for field) and a number.

T/F11-13: Visual impairment. The three sport classes 11, 12 and 13 are allocated to athletes with varying degrees of visual impairment, with sport class 11 indicating athletes with the lowest vision. All athletes in the T11 sport class run with a guide runner and are blindfolded. Athletes in sport class T12 may also choose to run with a guide.

T/F 20: Intellectual impairment. Athletes in this class are diagnosed with intellectual impairment and meet sport-specific minimum disability criteria in 1,500m, long jump or shot put respectively. Athletes with an intellectual impairment are limited in regards to intellectual functions and their adaptive behaviour, which is diagnosed before the age of 18 years.

T32-38 and F31-38: The 30s sport classes are allocated to athletes with athetosis, ataxia and/or hypertonia. The impairments typically affect the ability to control legs, trunk, arms and hands. The lower the number is, the more significant the activity limitation. Athletes in the sport classes 31-34 compete in a seated position; those in the sport classes 35-38 show a better function compete standing.

F40: Athletes with short stature compete in this sport class.

T/F42-46: These sport classes are designated for athletes with limb deficiencies. In the sport classes 42-44 the legs are affected, and in the sport classes 45-46 the arms are affected. All athletes compete standing.

T51-54 and F51-58: The 50s sport classes only include athletes competing in a wheelchair, with a lower number indicating a higher activity limitation. Athletes in classes T51-52 have activity limitations in both lower and upper limbs. Unlike athletes in the sport classes T51-53, athletes competing in T54 have partial trunk and leg function.

For field events, the groups are more differentiated. Athletes in sport classes F51-54 have limited shoulder, arm and hand functions and no trunk or leg function. Athletes in the class F54 have full function in their arms and hands. Trunk and leg function increases through sport classes F55-58.

Boccia

All players compete in wheelchairs due to a loss of leg function and trunk stability, caused by a lack of muscle co-ordination and control.

BC1: Athletes have severe activity limitations affecting their legs, arms and trunk due to co-ordination impairments. They can grasp and throw the ball and do not use assistive devices. Athletes with some leg control are allowed to propel the ball with their foot.

BC2: Players have better trunk control and arm function than the players in the BC1 and BC3 sport class. The abilities of their arms and hands often allow them to throw the ball overhand and underhand and with a variety of grasps.

BC3: Athletes competing in this class have a significantly limited function in their arms and legs and poor or no trunk control due to cerebral or non-cerebral origin. Unlike BC1 players, they use a ramp to roll the ball as they are unable to propel the ball into court. Athletes often require assistive devices to propel the ball, because they cannot consistently grasp and throw the ball.

BC4: While the sport classes BC1-3 include athletes with impairments of cerebral origin, sport class BC4 comprises athletes with impairments that have no cerebral origin and that cause a loss of muscle strength or co-ordination. Players competing in this sport class have very poor leg and trunk function, but are able to grasp and throw the ball.

Cycling

Felicity Johnson and Stephanie Morton of Australia in the women's individual B 1km time trial qualification. The pair took the gold medal on day two of the Paralympics. Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Athletes with physical impairments compete on handcycles, tricycles or bicycles. Athletes with visual impairment compete on tandems with a sighted "pilot".

Handcycle H1-4: Cyclists in the sport classes H1-3 compete in a reclined position. Athletes in the H1 class have a complete loss of trunk and leg function and have limited arm function, while athletes in the H3 class have no leg function but good trunk and arm function. Cyclists in the H4 sport class sit on their knees and can thus use their arms and trunk to accelerate the handcycle.

Tricycle T1-2: Due to impairment affecting their balance and co-ordination, tricycle athletes cannot ride a bicycle. T1 is allocated to athletes with more significant co-ordination problems or loss of muscle power.

Biclycle C1-5: Athletes who are able to use a standard bicycle. C1 is allocated to athletes with the most severe activity limitation, while C5 is allocated to athletes who meet the minimum disability criteria.

Tandem TB: Cyclists with visual impairment race on a tandem with a sighted cyclist sitting in the front.

Equestrian

Grade Ia: Riders have severe impairments of all limbs and poor trunk control.

Grade Ib: Riders have either severely reduced trunk control and minimally impaired upper limbs or moderate impairments of the upper and lower limbs and the trunk.

Grade II: Riders have a very limited ability in both lower limbs and a good trunk balance, or milder limitations in upper and lower limbs with reduced trunk control.

Grade III: Athletes are able to walk, but have a severe impairment in both arms or have no arms, a moderate impairment of all four limbs or short stature. This grade also includes athletes with no sight.

Grade IV: Riders with impaired range of motion or muscle strength, deficiency on one limb or mild deficiency on two limbs. Riders with reduced vision or a restricted visual field compete in this grade.

Football: five-a-side

All players are visually impaired. The players have a very low visual acuity or no light perception. During the game all players must wear eyeshades. In addition, each team has a sighted, able-bodied goalkeeper, who does not need to undergo classification.

Football: seven-a-side

Competing athletes have ataxia, hypertonia or athetosis, three impairment types that are most commonly associated with cerebral palsy. Players are allocated one of four sport classes described below. To ensure fairness, each team has to have one FT5 or FT6 player on the field at all times and is not allowed to have more than two FT8 players on the field.

FT 5: Players have limitation in both lower limbs and to some degree in both upper limbs. The players have difficulty running, turning and stopping because of a lack of lower limb control.

FT 6: Players are affected by co-ordination and balance problems in all four limbs and trunk. FT6 players typically have difficulties in dribbling the ball when running, acceleration and stopping.

FT7: This sport class is designated to hemiplegic players, meaning that only one side of their body is affected, causing the players to walk and run with a limp. On the impaired side, the athlete might have problems balancing, so that often the impaired leg is used to kick the ball.

FT8: This is this sport class describes the minimum impairment eligible for seven-a-side football. You may not see the impact of impairment when watching the athlete run or control the ball. However, involuntary muscle contractions and hesitation before explosive movements do constitute activity limitations in comparison to able-bodied players.

Goalball

Brazil v Finland at the Copper Box. Photograph: Tom Jenkins

Athletes all have varying degrees of visual impairment. In order to ensure a fair competition between the teams, all players must wear eyeshades during the game.

Judo

B1-3: Judoka all have visual impairment, with a lower number indicating a higher degree of impairment

Powerlifting

Powerlifting is open to athletes with physical impairments that have a certain severity impacting on sport performance. All athletes have an impairment in their lower limbs or hips, which would prohibit them from competing in able-bodied weightlifting. All eligible athletes compete in one sport class, which should not to be confused with the different weight categories.

Rowing

Germany's LTA mixed coxed four take part in heat one at Eton Dorney. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

There are three classes for athletes with physical impairment:

AS: Athletes primarily use their arms and shoulders to accelerate the boat, as they have minimal or no leg and trunk function.

TA: Athletes who can use their arms and trunk when rowing, but are not able to use their legs or a sliding seat when performing the strokes. These athletes typically have good trunk and arm function.

LTA-PD: Athletes who can use their legs, trunk and arms to accelerate the boat and can use the sliding seat.

There are three sport classes for visual impairment:

LTA-VI B1, B2 and B3: Rowers in this sport class have varying degrees of visual impairment, with B1 being the most severe

To ensure that races are fair, rowers compete only against those in the same sport class. Consequently, there are four different events:

AS Women's single sculls

AS Men's single sculls

LTA Mixed coxed four: Two male and two female rowers from the sport classes LTA-PD and LTA-B1/2/3 form a team. Due to their physical strength, only two rowers in the team may have a visual impairment, and no more than one may have the sport class LTA-VI B3. All athletes with visual impairment wear eyeshades during training and competition.

TA Mixed double sculls: One female and one male rower of sport class TA form a team.

Sailing

Sport classes are different for each competition format in sailing. Sailors compete in crews of three or two, or in a single-person boat.

Three-person keelboat: Sailors are classified with a sport class from 1 to 7, with 7 indicating the least severe impairment. Athletes with visual impairment are also classified with the same sport classes. Depending on their visual ability, they compete in sport class 3, 5 or 7. To ensure fairness, each crew is allowed a maximum of 14 points.

Two-person keelboat: One sailor has to be allocated the sport class TPA and the other one has to be classified as TPB. TPA includes athletes with more severe impairments, which are equivalent to a sport class 1 or 2 on a three-person keelboat. TPB means that an athlete only has to meet the minimum impairment criteria for sailing. Athletes of all seven sport classes of the three-person keelboat could compete in the TPB sport class.

Single-person keelboat: Athletes only have to pass the minimum disability criteria, and there is no further sport class distinction. Equivalent to the TPB sport class on the two-person keelboat.

Shooting

There are two sport classes for athletes with physical impairments. All athletes eligible for shooting have an impairment of their lower limbs and most of them compete in a seated position.

SH1: Athletes shoot with either pistol or rifle. They do not require a shooting stand, because their arms are affected by impairment to a lesser extent and allow for sufficient support of the pistol or rifle.

SH2: Athletes with a more severe impairment in the upper limbs, which necessitates a shooting stand. Unlike the SH1 class, they shoot with rifles only and not pistols.

Sitting volleyball

Martine Wright (centre) celebrates a point with Victoria Widdup in their women's sitting volleyball match against Ukraine. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images

There are two sport classes in sitting volleyball: minimally disabled (MD) and disabled (D). The impairment of athletes in sport class MD is generally less severe than the impairment of athletes competing in sport class D. To ensure a fair competition between two teams, a team may only have one MD player on the court, and all other five players must be allocated sport class D.

Swimming

The sport class names in swimming consist of a prefix S, SM, or SB and a number. The prefixes represent the stroke and the number indicates the sport class.

S: Freestyle, butterfly and backstroke

SM: Individual medley

SB: Breaststroke

1 -10: Physical impairment where a lower number indicates a more severe activity limitation. Athletes with different impairments compete against each other but the impact of their impairment on swim performance is similar.

11-13: Visual impairment, with 11 meaning a complete or nearly complete loss of sight and 13 describing the minimum eligible visual impairment. Athletes in sport class 11 compete with blackened goggles.

14: Swimmers with intellectual impairment who also meet the sport-specific criteria compete in this class.

Table tennis

Players with physical impairments compete in sport classes 1-10, and athletes with an intellectual impairment compete in sport class 11. Athletes in the sport classes 1-5 compete in a wheelchair and those in classes 6-10 compete in a standing position.

Wheelchair basketball

Great Britain's Terry Bywater shoots for a basket under pressure from Germany's Dirk Passiwan at the North Greenwich Arena. Photograph: John Walton/PA

Players are allocated one of eight sport classes from 1.0 to 4.5. Sport class 1.0 describes the most significant activity limitation. All athletes compete in a wheelchair and have an impairment affecting their legs or feet that would prohibit them from competing equally in able-bodied basketball. Players are allocated one of the sport classes described below. To ensure fairness, each team of five is allowed a maximum of 14 points on the field of play at the same time.

1.0: Players in sport class 1.0 have no trunk control and thus cannot bend forward or sideways or rotate to catch and pass the ball. To keep a stable position, the backrest of the wheelchair is higher and the athletes are strapped to the wheelchair.

2.0: These players can move lean forward and rotate their body to some extent, allowing them to catch the ball within a larger radius. Like their team members in sport class 1.0, their wheelchairs have a higher backrest and strapping for trunk support.

3.0: This profile describes players whose trunk control allows them to fully rotate and lean forward, but does not allow them to lean to the sides. As they do not need sitting support, their wheelchair has a low backrest.

4.0: Players can partially lean forward and partially to the sides as well. Often players in this class can lean to one side only.

4.5: Players have no restriction in trunk rotation or leaning forward or sideways.

An athlete can also be allocated the sport classes 1.5, 2.5 or 3.5. The activity profiles of these half-pointers fit in between those of the lower and higher class.

Wheelchair fencing

All wheelchair fencers have an impairment of their legs or feet that prohibits them from competing against standing, non-disabled fencers. There are two sport classes:

Category A: Fencers have good trunk control, allowing them to move forward and sideways when attracting their opponent or dodging an attack. Also, their fencing arm is fully functional.

Category B: Fencers either have worse trunk control than described in category A and full control of their fencing arm, or they have full trunk control and minimally reduced function in their fencing arm.

Wheelchair rugby

Players are also allocated one of seven different sport classes: 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5, described below, with 0.5 being indicating the most significant activity limitation. The total number of points on court during a game for four players may not exceed eight.

0.5: Players show significant shoulder instability and limitations in their upper arm and hand functions. Most have no trunk or leg control. The player would typically catch the ball by tapping it into the lap and throw the ball with a scoop pass.

1.5: Players have better shoulder stability and arm and wrist function. They can do chest passes, but the instability of their wrists makes ball handling difficult. Some players might have one side of their body more strongly affected than the other.

2.5: Players have good shoulder stability and arm function. They might have some trunk control. Due to their ability to flex their fingers, they can perform overhead passes, catch the ball with two hands and manoeuvre the wheelchair better than their team mates in the lower sport classes.

3.5: Least severe eligible impairment. Due to a less significant impairment of their shoulders, trunk, arms and hands, player are good ball handlers and can move quickly on the court.

Wheelchair tennis

There are two sport classes, and all players have in common that they have an impairment that affects their mobility.

Open class: Athletes who have a significant and permanent impairment of one or both legs and full arm function.

Quad class: Players have an impairment affecting their arm function, as well as their legs. This limits their ability to grip the racket and to move in the wheelchair.

• Taken from the International Paralympic Committee's Layman's Guide to Paralympic Classification. For more information, visit the IPC website at www.paralympic.org