Categories

Paralympic athletes today compete within six broad categories: amputee, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, wheelchair, visually impaired, and Les Autres (literally 'The Others': athletes with disabilities that do not fall into the other five categories - these include dwarfism, multiple sclerosis, and congenital deformities). These categories are further broken down into classifications, which vary from sport to sport. The classification system has led to cheating controversies revolving around athletes who over-stated their disabilities, in addition to the use of performance-enhancing drugs seen in other events.

Pictured: 17 September 2008 - China's Wang Yafeng and Brazil's Damiao Ramos (left) fight for the ball during the men's Football 5-A-Side finals in Beijing