Cheating at the Paralympic Games has caused scandals that have significantly changed the way in which the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) run the events. Testing for performance-enhancing drugs has become stricter and more widespread throughout the Games, with powerlifting seeing the most positive results. Competitors without disabilities have also competed in some Paralympic Games, with the Spanish entry in the intellectually disabled basketball tournament at the 2000 Summer Paralympics being the most controversial. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is an international non-profit organisation of elite sports for athletes with disabilities. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... The bench press is one of the three events of powerlifting. ... Silver 2004 The Paralympic Games are an elite multi-sport event for athletes with a disability. ... This article is about the sport. ... See also: 2000 Summer Olympics External links Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games - archived websites in PANDORA Categories: Summer Paralympic Games | Australian sport | 2000 in sports ...

Doping

Most professional sporting competitions randomly sample athletes to eliminate the use of performance-enhancing drugs, and the Paralympic Games are no different. The first positive results came in the 1992 Barcelona Games with five athletes found to have used banned substances.^[2] The 2000 Sydney Games saw fourteen athletes return a positive test, ten of which were in the powerlifting competition.^[1] This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... See also: 1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Paralympics were the ninth Paralympic Games to be held. ... The bench press is one of the three events of powerlifting. ...

The Sydney 2000 Doping Control Program had the responsibility of ensuring that the games met the International Paralympic Medical and Anti-Doping Code and, for the first time in the sport, out-of-competition (OOC) testing was introduced. This meant that the testing window was much wider, with any competitor being called for a test at any point throughout the Games. OOC testing was responsible for discovering nine powerlifters with positive results before they took part in the competition and they were promptly ejected. One further powerlifter, along with a competitor in the Athletics, gave positive results after winning medals.^[1]

In the Salt Lake City Winter Paralympics in 2002 German cross country skier Thomas Oelsner gave a positive result after winning two gold medals. He was suspended for two years from all IPC events.^[3] See also: 2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Olympic Winter Games, including the 2002 Winter Paralympics, were held in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. ...

Intellectual disability

In the 1996 Atlanta Games athletes with intellectual disabilities were allowed to participate for the first time. See also: 1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, USA were the first Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship. ... Developmental disability is a term used to describe severe, life-long disabilities attributable to mental and/or physical impairments, manifested before the age of 22. ...

Basketball controversy

The 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, which had already seen controversy with numerous positive drug tests, would be the venue for the most scandalous events in the sport's history. Spain, having defeated Russia in the intellectual disability basketball tournament with a score of 87-63, were stripped of their gold medals shortly after the Games closed.^[4] Carlos Ribagorda, a member of the victorious team and undercover journalist, revealed to the Spanish business magazine Capital that most of his colleagues had not undergone medical tests to ensure that they had a disability. The IPC investigated the claims and found that the required mental tests, which should show that the competitors have an Intelligence Quotient of no more than 70,^[5] were not conducted by the Spanish Paralympic Committee (CPE). Ribagorda alleged that some Spanish participants in the table tennis, track and field, and swimming events were also not disabled, meaning that five medals had been won dishonestly.^[5][6] He went on to say that the Spanish Federation for Mentally Handicapped Sports (FEDDI) chose to sign up athletes who were not intellectually disabled in order to "win medals and gain more sponsorship".^[7] Fernando Martin Vicente, president of the FEDDI and vice-president of CPE, initially denied the allegations.^[7] This article is about the sport. ... “IQ” redirects here. ... Wang Liqin, 2007 World Champion Table tennis is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball back and forth to each other with bats (also sometimes called racquets or paddles). ... A womens 400m hurdles race on a typical outdoor red rubber track. ... This article concentrates on human swimming. ...

After investigations by the CPE it was confirmed that 10 of the 12 competitors in the winning team were not disabled.^[4] Martin Vicente publicly apologised for the error and accepted total responsibility, resigning just before the findings were officially released.^[6] Two weeks later the team were ordered to return the gold medals.^[4]

The controversy has been cited as one of the "most outrageous sporting moments" in history.^[8]

IPC reaction

The IPC announced that, due to serious difficulties in determining the eligibility of athletes, it was suspending all official sporting activities involving an intellectual disability.^[9] The IPC attempted to develop a revised system for testing for intellectual disabilities but announced on 1 February 2003 that all events involving learning difficulties would be abandoned for the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens.^[8][10] is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A learning disability exists when there is a significant discrepancy between ones ability and achievement. ... Proteas: The official 2004 Summer Paralympics mascot The 2004 Summer Paralympics were held in Athens, Greece, from September 17 to September 28. ... Athens is the largest and the capital city of Greece, located in the Attica periphery. ...

Following an anti-corruption drive, the International Sports Federation for Persons with an Intellectual Disability (INAS-FID) lobbied to have these athletes reinstated. Beginning in 2004, athletes with an intellectual disability began to be re-integrated into Paralympic sport competitions, although they remain excluded from the Paralympic Games. [1] The IPC has stated that it will re-evaluate their participation following the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.[2] See also: 2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, the thirteenth Paralympics, will be held in Beijing, China from September 6 - 17, 2008. ...

References