A guide to Paralympic Sport

The London 2012 Paralympics will host a staggering 503 events, across 21 very unique sports, for thousands of athletes with different disabilities.

However, each of these events requires a variety of abilities, and the impairment of an athlete can impact greatly on their ability to compete. Therefore, to keep up its long history of fair competition, events at the Games use an athlete classification system, which ensures a level playing field amongst competitors.

As a guide, we've provided a sport-by-sport breakdown of the rules, regulations and classification systems that will feature at the 2012 Paralympic Games...