One of Britain’s top Paralympic medal hopes has quit the competition over allegations Team GB has wrongly classified some squad members, boosting their chances against more impaired competitors.
Bethany Woodward, 23, who won silver in the T37 200m in London four years ago, withdrew from Team GB so that she can speak out on the issue, according to reports. She told the Sunday Times she had lost faith in the team over the issue.
“I represented my country for a long time but if I can’t compete like I used to compete, because they’ve brought in people who are not like me in terms of disability, what’s the point?” Woodward, who has cerebral palsy, was quoted as saying.
Woodward’s withdrawal comes after it emerged that UK Athletics is to investigate the classification of Paralympic track and field athletes over claims that some have been allowed to take the field against rivals who are significantly more disabled. Tanni Grey-Thompson, Britain’s most decorated Paralympian, is among those who have complained in recent months, raising concerns mismatching had given British athletes a competitive advantage.
The father of the Paralympic runner Olivia Breen, who ran with Woodward to take bronze in the 400m relay at London 2012, has also complained. Michael Breen said UKA seemed primarily focused on medal-winning, adding: “The current classification system is not fit for purpose. Consequently, some athletes have been incorrectly classified.”
Participants in Paralympic events are grouped into categories according to the degree of their disability so that competitions are fair, but concerns across all Paralympic sports about incorrect categorisation have been increasing globally as the sport has developed.
Even Paula Dunn, the head coach of UKA’s Paralympic team, said earlier this year she would resign after admitting she made comments suggesting a top UK Paralympian was more able-bodied than had been judged.
However, she later retracted both her resignation and her comments, a view upheld by an internal UKA inquiry. She also circulated an email to athletes and their families stating that officials “will have no hesitation in taking legal action against anyone found to have made baseless allegations” regarding the classification of Paralympic athletes.
Concerns over the issue are not restricted to the UK. Helmut Hoffman, German team doctor at the International Paralympic Committee Athletics World Championships in Doha in 2015, told the Sunday Times he watched races with athletes he thought had been wrongly classified. “I don’t want to say it was corrupt, but it was unfair,” he said.
Oxana Corso, 21, an Italian athlete with severe cerebral palsy, echoed Woodward’s concerns that she was competing against people who were mismatched, adding that she felt “duped by a mocking system more focused on putting on a show than supporting disabled athletes”.
The Paralympics begin in Rio on Wednesday, with organisers hoping that a late surge of interest will help them to fill seats, stretch budgets and avoid criticism that the second stage of Rio 2016 would be remembered as the “neglected Games”. Financial cuts, downgraded facilities, volunteer shortfalls and poor ticket sales have overshadowed the countdown to the opening ceremony at the Maracanã stadium on Wednesday, prompting fears that the events could be even more sparsely attended than for the Olympics last month.
