Sport and Health: Global Challenges to Biomedical Definitions of Disability

Abstract

There is always a political context to definitions whether of the medical body or the disabled body. The meaning of disability has been challenged and redefined over the past sixty years as has the meaning of sport and disability while the battle for disability rights and inclusion strengthened. This paper describes the research documenting the profound change in the organization of the Paralympic Games and IPC Swimming from being segregated and medically and disability-based to sport-based classification for competition based on functioning in the water. Swimmers with diverse disabilities competed together and the four Canadian disability swimming teams were replaced by one swim team. At the same time the lives of swimmers transformed as they became identified as swimmers rather than as persons with disabilities.