How Much Do Range of Movement and Coordination Affect Paralympic Sprint Performance?

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Biomechanics
• Paralympic Athletics

Background:

• Evidence-based paralympic classification requires quantifying the relationship between impairment measures and sports performance.
• Previous research has not quantified the impact of specific impairments on athletic performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the effect of range of movement (ROM) and coordination on running performance in runners with and without brain impairments.
• To establish validity criteria for impairment measures in paralympic classification.

Main Methods:

• 41 male runners (13 with brain impairments (RBI), 28 non-disabled (NDR)) participated.
• Participants completed a 60-m sprint, lower limb ROM tests, and lower limb coordination tests.

Main Results:

• Runners with brain impairments exhibited significantly slower coordination times and reduced range of movement compared to non-disabled runners.
• Brain-impaired runners showed significantly slower acceleration and top speed.
• Five ROM measures significantly correlated with sprint performance in RBI runners, explaining 38-58% of performance variance.

Conclusions:

• This study is the first to quantify impairment effects on paralympic running performance.
• Five ROM measures were validated for classifying impairments in T35-T38 paralympic classes.
• The findings provide methodological guidance for evidence-based paralympic classification.