Independent Paralympic Athletes at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

Individual Paralympic Athletes at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
Flag of the International Paralympic Committee
IPC code	IPA
NPC	Independent Paralympic Athletes
in Rio de Janeiro
Competitors	2 in 2 sports
Medals	Gold 0 Silver 0 Bronze 0 Total 0
Summer Paralympics appearances (overview)
1992 1996 2000 2004–2012 2016 2020
Other related appearances
Refugee Paralympic Team (2020)

The Independent Paralympic Athletes Team, a team consisting of refugee and asylee Paralympic athletes, competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. Its creation was announced on 5 August 2016.

Participation

The team was announced on August 5, 2016, by the International Paralympic Committee. ^[1] Participants were nominated for the team by National Paralympic Committees who were aware of qualified sportspeople. The International Paralympic Committee stepped in to assist with getting athletes ready by doing a number of things, including insuring that athletes were classified. ^[1]

On 26 August 2016, the IPC announced the two members of the refugee team: Ibrahim Al Hussein of Syria, who will compete in the S10 50 and 100 m freestyle swimming events, and Shahrad Nasajpour of Iran, who will compete in F37 Discus. ^{[2] [3]} Tony Sainsbury was the chef de mission of the team; Sainsbury has previously been the chef de mission of the British Paralympic Team at five Paralympics. ^[2]

The team was considered a success and it was recreated as the Refugee Paralympic Team at the 2020 Summer Paralympics and both of the athletes in this team returned in 2020.

Parathlete	Sex	Country of origin	Host NPC	Sport	Event	Class
Ibrahim Al Hussein	M	Syria	Greece	Swimming	100m freestyle; 50m freestyle	S10	[ citation needed ]
Shahrad Nasajpour	M	Iran	USA	Athletics	Discus	F37	[ citation needed ]

Disability classifications

Main article: Disability sport classification

Every participant at the Paralympics has their disability grouped into one of five disability categories; amputation, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories; visual impairment, including blindness; Les autres, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example dwarfism or multiple sclerosis. ^{[4] [5]} Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent upon the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing. Some sports, such as athletics, divide athletes by both the category and severity of their disabilities, other sports, for example swimming, group competitors from different categories together, the only separation being based on the severity of the disability. ^[6]

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

Athlete	Events	Result	Rank
Shahrad Nasajpour	Discus F37	39.64	11

Swimming

Main article: Swimming at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

Athlete	Event	Heat		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Ibrahim Al Hussein	50 m freestyle S9	35.54	18	Did not advance
	100 m freestyle S9	1:20.98	21	Did not advance

See also

• Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics

References

1. "Refugees to compete in dedicated team at Rio 2016 Paralympics". International Paralympic Committee. International Paralympic Committee. August 5, 2016. Retrieved August 7, 2016.
2. "Rio Paralympics: Two refugee Para-athletes named for Rio Paralympics". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
3. "Ibrahim Al Hussein spreads message of hope". IPC. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
4. "Paralympics categories explained". ABC. 3 September 2008. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
5. "Making sense of the categories". BBC Sport. 6 October 2000. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
6. "A-Z of Paralympic classification". BBC Sport. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 25 December 2015.