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The Paralympic Games are rampant with cheating.
Don’t believe us? Then just ask former Team USA Paralympian David Berling, who recently went in-depth about the scandal and how it works in an interview with Pablo Torre on Torre’s podcast, Pablo Torre Finds Out.
Berling, a para-cyclist who lost both legs in a plane crash, sued the International Paralympic Committee last year over a phenomenon called “classification cheating.”
Paralympic Games Have A Long History Of Cheating And Don’t Know How To Fix It
How does it work?
Let’s start with the basics.
Paralympic events are each divided by classification. The classifications divide competitors based on both the type and severity of their disability. Athletes often undergo tests in order to both prove their disability and the extent to which they are disabled.
But in the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, the Spanish basketball team was found to have lied about their intellectual disabilities. The coach of that team, Fernando Martin Vicente, was eventually found guilty of fraud.
The Paralympics later removed the intellectually disabled basketball category altogether and have attempted to crack down on class cheating since.
But Berling says that they haven’t fixed anything.
“We’d get done with races in my classification and guys would literally get up out of their bike and either walk away or somebody would hand them a below-the-knee prosthesis, they’d pop it on, and walk away,” Berling said. “And as a double above-knee amputee, you can’t do that. The paralyzation levels were so minimal that guys could walk easily and then to podiums they’re walking up and down steep ramps without assistance.”
Berling says that competitors would show up to competitions and exaggerate disabilities that do not affect them in their day-to-day lives.
Those athletes would then use their lesser disability to their advantage in competition.
How Does Cheating Work In The Paralympic Games?
Correspondent Tim Rohan explains that classifications for the Paralympics are widened in order to make the competition more practical. But athletes often use that to their advantage.
“When the athletes are coming in to figure out which classification they’re gonna be placed in, they’re evaluated by someone called a classifier,” Rohan explains. “One of the first steps is the athlete provides a doctor’s note … but according to David, it’s possible for athletes to manipulate that documentation.”
Berling states that athletes will seek out doctor’s notes that either exaggerate injuries or document “the possibility of an injury” and then take that to their classification appointment.
Classifiers, who Rohan notes are volunteers, then do not question the evaluation of the doctor.
Rohan states that athletes do undergo an in-person exam and classifiers watch the athletes perform the sport. But athletes allegedly intentionally underperform during their exams. He noted one example of an athlete taking a muscle relaxer before the classification test.
Berling then notes that athletes will re-test in order to move down in classification.
“What we’re seeing if people going to the doctor and saying ‘okay, could there be detriment in my back? Could there be detriment in my knee? Could I have nerve damage here,'” he said. “If a doctor can write it up and that athlete can take it to a classification appointment, then they might be able to get reclassified down even though their impairment has not changed whatsoever.”
Berling states that even world champions wll move down in class from one year to the next.
“There’s just absolutely no chance for the athletes in that class to be able to be competitive,” Berling said.
Unsurprisingly, this class cheating appears to happen across several sports. But it doesn’t appear a fix is in sight. And it really puts a damper on an otherwise incredible event.