Paratriathlon
Paratriathlon events made its debut on the Paralympic program at the Rio Paralympic Games in 2016. Athletes will swim 750 meters, bike 20-kilometers and run 5 kilometers.
Coordination Impairments
Athletes with a Coordination Impairment have one or more of the following three movement disorders that (i) adversely affects the ability to voluntarily produce a full range of skilled movement fluidly, rapidly, and accurately:
- Hypertonia/Spasticity: an increase in muscle tension that may be velocity-dependent and/or a reduced ability of a muscle to stretch.
- Motor Ataxia: limited precision in direction and velocity of voluntary movement.
- Dyskinesia (Athetosis, Dystonia, Chorea): involuntary movements that interfere with voluntary movements.
Examples of Underlying Health Conditions that can lead to coordination impairments include Cerebral Palsy, Traumatic Brain Injury, Stroke, and Multiple Sclerosis.
Impaired Muscle Power
Athletes with Impaired Muscle Power have a reduced (or no) ability to contract their muscles to generate force that is consistent with an Underlying Health Condition affecting the structure and function of the central or peripheral nervous system or the muscles.
Examples of Underlying Health Conditions leading to impaired muscle power include: spinal cord injuries, muscular dystrophy, post-polio syndrome, and spina bifida.
Impaired Passive Range of Motion
Athletes with Impaired Passive Range of Movement have a reduced ability for a joint to be passively moved that is consistent with an Underlying Health Condition affecting a structure of bones, joints, connective tissue, or soft tissues.
Examples of Underlying Health Conditions leading to impaired passive range of motion include: throgryposis and contracture resulting from chronic joint immobilization or trauma affecting a joint.
Limb Deficiency and/or Limb Length Difference
Athletes with Limb Deficiency or Limb Length Difference have a total or partial absence of a limb or anatomically irregular limb dimensions that are consistent with an Underlying Health Condition resulting from trauma (traumatic amputation), illness (example: amputation due to bone cancer), or congenital causes affecting the bones and/or joints (example: dysmelia).
This impairment group can be further divided into the following sub-categories:
- Limb deficiency
- Leg length difference and/or
- Arm length difference
Vision Impairment
Athletes with Vision Impairment have an Underlying Health Condition affecting the structure or function of the eye, optic nerve, optic chiasm, post chiasma visual pathways, or visual cortex of the brain resulting in reduced or no visual function even when using the best possible refractive or optical correction.
Examples of Underlying Health Conditions leading to vision impairments include retinitis pigmentosa and diabetic retinopathy.
Get Connected to USA Triathlon
Paratriathlon Introductory Survey, opens in a new tabComplete our Paratriathlon Introductory Survey. This will get an interested athlete into USA Triathlon's athlete database. It allows athletes to receive the paratriathlon newsletters with information about upcoming events and updates.
Submit a Virtual Combine
Submit Your Virtual Combine, opens in a new tabAny top performing athlete interested in pursuing elite development and attending a Paratriathlon Talent ID camp should submit a Virtual Combine, which will include your best 200m swim time trial, and 1k run time trial. If you haven’t competed in Paratriathlon before, we also consider strong cyclists, swimmers, or runners in at least (2) of the disciplines.
Paratriathlon offers National Classification to athletes in conjunction with the USAT Paratriathlon National Championships. See below for how to get classified in Paratriathlon and the different classifications in Paratriathlon
Physical Impairments
To secure a national physical impairment classification appointment an athlete needs to submit a completed Medical Diagnosis Form from their doctor to USA Triathlon at auburn.bosworth@usatriathlon.org.
- USA Triathlon national classifiers will review and provide a provisional classification to the athlete.
- One the athlete has obtained a provisional classification, the athlete will need to earn a qualifying time based on their classification category at one of the USAT Paratriathlon National Qualifier Series races.
- Once their time has been achieved, they will provide it to USAT, register for Nationals, and request a national classification appointment.
Vision Impairment
National Vision Impairment MDF, opens in a new tab- Athletes with visual impairments may obtain a national classification at any time during the year, and do not need to attend an event as part of the classification process.
- To obtain a National VI Classification, athletes must have the visual impairment medical diagnosis form completed by their ophthalmologist and returned to the USOPC Classification Manager at NPCUSAClassification@usopc.org along with supporting documentation related to the diagnosed eye condition as outlined on the medical diagnosis form.
- Once the forms are received by the USOPC, they are reviewed by a VI classifier, and the outcome will be communicated by the USOPC to the athlete.
- VI athletes must complete this process and be listed in the Classification Database to compete in events.
Wheelchair Classes
Athlete compete using a handcycle (bike segment) and racing wheelchair (run segment).
Ambulatory Classes
PTS2 – PTS5 – Ambulatory athletes (less severe as number increases), may use prosthetics or adaptations.
- PTS2
- PTS3
- PTS4
- PTS5
Vision Impairment Classes
Club Locator
USA Triathlon Club Locator, opens in a new tabClick to link below to find a USA Triathlon Club near you!
Competitions
Qualifying Series Schedule, opens in a new tabClick the link below for a schedule of the Paratriathlon Nationals Qualifier Series races this year.