Declassified

Andrea BundonAssistant Professor

School of KinesiologyThe University of British Columbia

Athletes' stories about disability identities andthe Paralympic classification system

OVERVIEW

Project Design Findings Conclusions

Questions and Comments

Project PRISM

Context

Vancouver 2010

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Para-athlete retirement:Insights, support,

management

Sochi 2014

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Pa

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ProjectDesign

Online survey.

Distributed via social media & athlete service organizations.

Represented GB at Paralympic Games,international event or received funding.

Now retired.

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ProjectDesign

History of sport participation,impairment, education & employment.

Context of leaving sport.

(Non) use of athlete support services.

Current employment, education orvolunteer status.

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60 from 24 para-sportsresponded to the survey.

48 were Paralympians and21 had medalled at aParalympic Games.

21 females and 39 malesparticipated in the project.

25 had congenitalimpairments and 35 hadacquired impairments. TIME SINCE SPORT RETIREMENT

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ProjectDesign

Maximum variation sampling.

13 interviewees.

Semi-structured, qualitative.

Used survey responses as prompts.

Transcribed & coded.

Thematic analysis.

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1996 Atlanta (2)

2012 London (9)

1992 Barcelona (1)

2008 Beijing (4)

2004 Athens (4)

2000 Sydney (3)9 sports

6 Paralympic medallists

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Findings

Forming disabled identities

6 interviewees spoke ofhow participating in para-sport had contributed totheir perception ofthemselves as disabled.

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Forming disabled identities

"I always liked sport as a kid and it cameto swimming lessons and I was going tohave to wait 18 months for regularswimming lessons but the woman at thesports centre said that if I wanted to jointhe disability class then I could join rightaway. My mum wasn’t sure but she gaveme the option and I said rather than waitjust a few months I would just start…."

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Forming disabled identities"I wasn’t as confident as I am now. Iwasn’t as comfortable in my skin as whatI am now… I think disability wasdefinitely a limiting factor but I wasn’tas confident as I am now. I was unsure ofmy ability."

"Going to the Paralympics really helped adisillusioned teenager come to termswith having a disability."

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Findings

Declassification

3 athletes reported theyleft sport because theywere 'unclassifiable' or'declassified.'

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Declassification

All were surprised to be 'declassified.'

They also felt classifiers were trying to'catch them out.'

"They tested me three times doing thesame things because they didn’t believethat what I was doing matched."

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Declassification"They were accusing me of making thingsup... They didn’t understand mycondition… Movements that I don’t donaturally and they wanted me to do. Ididn’t know how to do it. And they weresaying ‘but you’ve got the muscles, youwalk, you can do it.’ And it was like ‘wellI’m trying.’ And I did try... they pushedand pulled me around and I was in somuch pain I couldn’t walk afterwards andthey asked me why I was pretending tobe paralysed."

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Declassification

One reported being told 'fat' was not adisability.

She was also asked if she was 'drunk'when performing balance test.

All 3 were told they were faking and/ornot trying.

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Declassification

"My declassification was so terrible …when you’re classified it should all beconfidential between you and theclassifiers. They told me in front ofeverybody that I’d been declassified andthat was another problem I had becausethat was all wrong and they shouldn’thave done it that way in front of the agroup, a whole room full of people."

Project PRISM

Declassification

"We were all called into meetings. I wasthe last one in and I was told that I’dfailed. I remember saying ‘what do I donow?’ The team physio said ‘well you’vegot quite a few medals, you’ve got animpressive CV, I’m sure you’ll be able toget a job.’… And ‘could I go down to thelobby to smile for a photo of the teambecause we’d not yet had a team photo?’"

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Findings

Challenges to disabled identities

All 3 reported that leavingsport was traumatic.

Made more difficult bychallenge to their identityas a disabled person.

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Challenges to disabled identities

"They were accusing me of making thingsup in the classification. I started toquestion ‘is it all in my head?’ and then Iwould struggle to get up the stairs… "

"This [impairment] isn’t a life choice, I’mstuck with it and I tried to make the bestof it and I don’t understand why they’vecome to that decision. So yeah I was alittle bit messed up to be honest when Icame out of the sport."

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Conclusions

Sociologists of sport have writtenabout the role of classification informing disability identities.Peers, D. (2012). Interrogating disability: The (de) compositionof a recovering Paralympian. Qualitative research in sport,exercise and health, 4(2), 175-188.

Howe, P. D., & Jones, C. (2006). Classification of disabledathletes:(Dis) empowering the Paralympic practicecommunity. Sociology of Sport Journal, 23(1), 29.

Purdue, D. E., & Howe, P. D. (2013). Who’s in and who is out?Legitimate bodies within the Paralympic Games. Sociology ofsport journal, 30(1), 24-40.

Project PRISM

Conclusions

Sport sector has yet to engage withwhat it means to 'classify' a person ashaving a disability.

Shown an unwillingness to engage inthe politics of disability identities.

Moral imperative to ensure athletewellbeing during transitions into andout of sport.

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Discussion

While total number is low, these typesof forced, undesired and unplannedretirements are particularly traumatic.

They will continue as long as theParalympic Movement seeks anincreasingly 'objective' and 'robust'classification system.

AcknowledgementsThank you to all the athletes who contributedto this project.

This research wassupported by