Organised by the International Blind Sport Federation (IBSA) with a grant provided by the Agitos Foundation, the meeting took place at the VU University of Amsterdam, which acts as one of three IPC classification research and development centres around the world.

The three-day meeting allowed attendees to discuss the overall concept of classification with special emphasis on athletes with a visual impairment.

It also allowed those attending, one in four of which were athletes or former athletes, to briefed on the new IPC Classification Code which is due to come into effect on January 1, 2017.

Delegates then discussed various aspects of visually impaired classification in an effort to find common denominators.

Subjects included eligible impairments, minimum impairment criteria, the impact of training and date of onset of the impairment, methods used for the measurement of vision impairment and a critical review of the current classification system.

The three-day meeting organised by the International Blind Sport Federation to discuss the new IPC Classification Code was held at the VU University in Amsterdam ©VU University



"During the meeting we tackled some very interesting issues," said two-time South African Paralympic S12 swimmer Scott Field.

"All attendees who were present were fully committed to provide the best for the athletes and are working with the sport federations to come up with a sport specific classification system for visually impaired athletes across the various sports.

"We tackled a very complex issue which was the issue of how being visually impaired during the developmental stages of childhood can affect your ability to perform in sport as an adult.

"The whole issue of congenital versus acquired loss of vision is one that will continue to be investigated.

"Another very interesting discussion was the topic of minimum impairment criteria.

"We discussed possible ways researchers can establish the minimal threshold of vision loss which will make an athlete eligible to compete in Para-sport."

New Zealand's Athens 2004 800 metres T13 Paralympic gold medallist Tim Prendergast attended the three-day meeting in Amsterdam ©Getty Images



The meeting concluded with discussions around approaches for the detection of intentional misrepresentation, the use of adaptive equipment and blindfolds in visually impaired classification, and future research directions.

"The meeting was a successful one and we were all in agreement that we want to see a transparent and fair classification system when it comes to vision impairment," said New Zealand's four-time Paralympian Tim Prendergast, who won the 800 metre T13 gold medal at Athens 2004.

"As an athlete who has been around the traps for a few years now there is always talk amongst athletes of this needing to change.

"A meeting and the research on visually impaired classification has really opened my eyes to just how difficult this whole area is.

"Three days of meetings coupled with a series of surveys have not solved every issue around visually impaired classification, rather it feels like we are just scratching the surface.

"This is exciting though and fantastic that IBSA, IPC and Agitos all see the real value in getting a robust visually impaired classification system in place as we move forward in the Paralympic Movement."

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