Intellectual disability sport and Paralympic classification

Sometimes it might seem that elite disability sport, especially as represented by the Paralympic Movement, is only for athletes with an amputation, or a spinal cord injury, or cerebral palsied or blind athletes, rather than for athletes with an intellectual disability (ID). However, after we set out the various opportunities open to ID athletes, that offer different kinds of sporting engagement, we find interesting and alarming issues with respect to the elite competitive event offer for athletes with ID. In this paper, we discuss the following: the problem of inclusion, some concerns that arise in the classification of paralympic athletes such as self-declaration and eligibility, the open nature of ID sports competition, and the sport offer available for these athletes.