T44 (classification)

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Australian Neil Fuller is a T44 competitor

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Paralympic World Cup 2009 Athletics in the T44 class. From left to right, the athletes are Oscar Pistorius, Jerome Singleton and Arnu Fourie.

T44 is a disability sport classification for disability athletics, applying to "Single below knee amputation or an athlete who can walk with moderately reduced function in one or both legs."

History

The classification was created by the International Paralympic Committee and has roots in a 2003 attempt to address "the overall objective to support and co-ordinate the ongoing development of accurate, reliable, consistent and credible sport focused classification systems and their implementation."

Sport

This classification is for disability athletics. This classification is one of several classifications for athletes with ambulant related disabilities. Similar classifications are T40, T42, T43, T44, T45 and T46. Jane Buckley, writing for the Sporting Wheelies, describes the athletes in this classification as: "Single below knee amputation or an athlete who can walk with moderately reduced function in one or both legs." The Australian Paralympic Committee defines this classification as being for athletes who have the "Single leg below knee amputation. Combined lower plus upper limb amputations. Ambulant with moderately reduced function in one or both lower limbs." The International Paralympic Committee defined this as: "This class is for any athlete with a lower limb impairment/s that meets minimum disability criteria for: lower limb deficiency (section 4.1.4.a); impaired lower limb PROM (section 4.1.5.b); impaired lower limb muscle power (section 4.1.6.b); or leg length difference (section 4.1.7)."

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  Colour guide for understanding fully body diagrams

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  Disability type for some T44 classified competitors

Becoming classified

Athletes seeking to compete in para-athletics first need to have a classification assessment. During this, they undergo a medical examination and are asked to demonstrate their skills in athletics, such as running, jumping or throwing. A determination is then made as to what classification an athlete should compete in. Classifications may be Confirmed or Review status. For athletes who do not have access to a full classification panel, Provisional classification is available; this is a temporary Review classification, considered an indication of class only, and generally used only in lower levels of competition.

Competitors

American T44 competitor April Holmes is world record holder in the Women's T44 100m event, while French competitor Marie-Amélie Le Fur holds T44 world records at 200m, 400m and 800m distances.

United States runner Jerome Singleton is a strong competitor in the 100m event, winning at the IPC Athletics World Championships in 2011. Richard Browne currently holds the T44 100m world record after coming second to Alan Oliveira with a time of 10.75 at the Paralympic Anniversary Games in London on 28 July 2013. Other notable competitors in this class include Arnu Fourie and David Prince, who hold T44 200m and 400m world records respectively.

German world record holder Markus Rehm with an 8.24m long jump was the first T44 athlete who won a national able-bodied competition, in consequence causing discussions about possible advantages of prosthesis techniques.

See also

• Athletics at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men's 100 metres T44
• Athletics at the Summer Paralympics
• Para-athletics classification