F8 (classification)
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F8, also SP8, is a standing wheelchair sport classification open to people with spinal cord injuries, with inclusion based on a functional classification on a points system for lower limb functionality. Sportspeople in this class need to have less than 70 points. The class has largely been used in Australia and the United States. F8 has largely been eliminated because of a perceived lack of need internationally for a standing wheelchair class. Sports this class participates in include athletics, swimming and wheelchair basketball. In athletics, participation is mostly in field events.
F8 is standing wheelchair sport class.[1][2] The level of spinal cord injury for this class involves people who have incomplete lesions at a slightly higher level. This means they can sometimes bear weight on their legs.[3] In 2002, USA Track & Field defined this class as, "These are standing athletes with dynamic standing balance. Able to recover in standing when balance is challenged. Not more than 70 points in legs."[4] In 2003, Disabled Sports USA defined this class as, "In a sitting class but not more than 70 points in the lower limbs. Are unable to recover balance in challenged standing position."[1] In Australia, this class means combined lower plus upper limb functional problems. "Minimal disability."[5] It can also mean in Australia that the athlete is "ambulant with moderately reduced function in one or both lower limbs."[5] In Australia, the corresponding class for based on disability type classes are A2, A3, A9, and LAF5.[5]
History
During the 1960s and 1970s, classification involved being examined in a supine position on an examination table, where multiple medical classifiers would often stand around the player, poke and prod their muscles with their hands and with pins. The system had no built in privacy safeguards and players being classified were not insured privacy during medical classification nor with their medical records.[6] In the early Paralympic Games, this class would have been ineligible to participate in many cases because they did not meet minimum disability requirements set by the ISMGF.[7]
This class was historically merged in the 2000s with.[1][8] The class was largely used in the United States for domestic competitions during the 2000s for standing wheelchair athletes. Initially, following changes made to the classification system internationally in this period, they were classified as F59 for international purposes. Their class was then changed following international classification. Their new classification was then used domestically. Domestically, they were moved to the F9 class because of a perceived lack internationally to have a standing wheelchair class.[1]
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