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Athletics

Summary

Athletics is the most widespread I.B.S.A. sport, practised in international competitions by more than 70 countries.Competition is organised according to the I.B.S.A. Classification System, using all three classes - B1, B2 and B3. The rules of the International Athletic Associations Federation (IAAF) are followed for a range of traditional athletics events that is more or less complete except for events such as the Hurdles races, the Steeplechase, and the Pole Vault.

I.A.A.F Rules are followed in their entirety by the class B3 athletes, but there are necessary modifications in the case of the more severe visual impairments - Class B2 and B1. Some of these modifications involve adjustments to the Athletics facilities, or to the way in which they are used. Most of the modifications regulate the way in which these classes may be given assistance (by running guides, for example, or by callers supplying auditory guidance in field events) to enable them to perform in authentic competition.

View profiles of famous athletes

History

Athletics competitions for blind and visually impaired athletes have a long history, and since the formation of I.B.S.A. in 1981 there has been a regular programme of international competition at a continental and world level.

Presently athletics championships at a continental level take place regularly in European and Pan American continents. The I.B.S.A. European Championships have been held every two years since 1983. Blind Athletics have been part of the FESPIC Games in the Pacific region since their inception.

Under I.B.S.A. auspices, Blind athletes competed in Paralympic Games in Long Island (1984), Seoul (1988), Barcelona (1992), Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (2000). They were also present in the pan-disability World Championships of Gothenburg (1986), Assen (1990) and Lille (2002).I.B.S.A. conducted its first multi-sport World Championships in Madrid in 1998, and in this event, as in the forthcoming I.B.S.A. World Championships in Quebec City (2003), Athletics was the major sport.

In addition, I.B.S.A. has conducted Road Race competitions over the full marathon, half-marathon, and 10K distances at continental and world levels. Youth championships in track and field and in cross-country are also part of the programme of the sport.

Rules and regulations

The IBSA Rules for Athletics - 2002-05 are available as a download in PDF format here :

To read about the modifications and suggestions for Training and Competition as made by the United States Association of Blind Athletes click here

To read about the qualifying standards as specified by the Indian Blind Sports Association click here

Calendar of main competitive events

International

2005 IBSA World Youth Championships
Click here to see results from - 2004 IBSA World Youth Championships

IBSA Pan-American Games
Dates : September 3-11, 2005
Location : Sao Paulo, Brazil
Contact Person : Mark Lucas
E-mail : mlucas@usaba.org\
Phone : (719) 630-0422, ext. 134.

World Championships
Click here to see results from - 2003 IBSA World Championships, Quebec, Canada

European 10K Champs
Click here to see results from 2001 IBSA European 10K Road Race Championships, Soave, Italy

Records / Landmarks

National

Click to download National records in Microsoft word format

International

To see the International records in Blind Athletics click on the applicable link below:

IBSA Word Ranking List for Atletics 2003-2004. (Microsoft Word file)

Athletics - Records Broken as of 27 SEP 2004. (Microsoft Excel file)

Athletics - European records as of 12 SEP 2004. (Microsoft Word file)

European records - Athletics - Outdoor - Men

European records - Athletics - Outdoor - Women

World records - Athletics - Outdoor - Men

World records - Athletics - Outdoor - Women

World Records - Athletics - Indoor - Men

World Records - Athletics - Indoor - Women

World Ranking List Athletics 2001/2002. ( PDF file)

Contact information

National

Indian Blind Sports Association
Blind Relief Association
Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg, New Delhi-110003
Phone: (91-11) 24361376, 24364934
Fax: (91-11) 24364730
E-mail: lbsbra@delhi1.mtnl.net.in
Contact Person: Mr. B. L. Bharadwaj

International

IBSA Athletics Sub-Committee
Designation : CHAIRMAN
Brian Scobie
Westfield House
Westfield Lane, Wyke, BD12 9LSBD12 9LS
United Kindom
P hone: +44 1274 679 100
E-mail:scobie@legend.co.uk