Balyi, I., Cardinal, C., Higgs, C., Norris, S., & Way, R. (2005).

Canadian sport for life: Long-term athlete development [Resource

Paper]. Vancouver, BC: Canadian Sport Centers.,

Balyi, I., & Way, R. (1995). Long-term planning of athlete development: The training to train phase. B.C. Coach, 2-10.,

Balyi, I., Way, R., Higgs, C. (2013). Long Term Athlete Development. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

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# 98 The Paralympic World Powers: an analysis of the medals claimed at Rio 2016 Paralympic Games

Marcelo de Castro Haiachi; Jacqueline Martins Patatas; Silvestre Cirilo dos Santos Neto

Federal University of Sergipe - BRA, Scenarios / UFS - BRA; Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) - BEL; GPEO Esefex - BRA, State

University of Rio de Janeiro - BRA

Rio 2016 Paralympic Games (PG) was the fifteenth edition and only the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Australia, France,

the Netherlands and Italy took part in all editions, allowing them to be classified as Traditional World Powers in Paralympic

sports. However, emerging nations such as China, Poland, Ukraine, Russia and Brazil have been demonstrating their strength

and started to positioning themselves among the top ten in the overall medal table. Due to this fact, these nations are now

considered as Emerging World Powers.

This study aims to describe the distribution of the medals won by the traditional and emerging world powers in the Rio 2016

Paralympic Games, as well as to show the sports that directly influenced the distribution of these medals.

The research presents descriptive methods. Data collection was performed by searching primary sources of dissemination

from the International Paralympic Committee and Rio 2016 website.

Due to the high number of events in sports such as Athletics, Swimming, Cycling, Table Tennis, Powerlifting and Wheelchair

Fencing, many countries commonly select them as target sports for setting up the strategies for the Paralympic cycle, in order to

achieve better positions in the final medal table. China is the world biggest power and its strategy was focused on individual

events in sports such as Athletics, Shooting, Swimming, Table Tennis and Wheelchair Fencing. Great Britain’s strategy focused

on eleven sports. However, the main challenge for Great Britain was ensure the continuity of the good practices planned and

executed in London 2012. This strategy guaranteed to Great Britain an increase of gold medals from 34 in 2012 to 64

medals in Rio. Another example is Ukraine, which showed its strength in 7-a-side Football and in other nine sports, however,

it is arguable that part of Ukraine success is to some extent, due to the Russian absence, thus guaranteeing a transfer of

some medals won by Russia in 2012. Regarding team sports, the United States showed hegemony in Sitting Volleyball and

Wheelchair Basketball. Australia claimed its medals in eight sports, highlighting Sailing and Wheelchair Rugby. On the other

hand, Germany has set up its strategy on sports as Cycling, Athletics and Triathlon, advancing two positions in the medal table.

The Netherlands choose to focus their results in seven sports, especially in Wheelchair Tennis. Hence, the participation of the

host country was an interesting case. Despite the increasing number of medals won in total, from 43 in London 2012 to 72 in Rio

2016, as well as the increase number of finals disputed and the diversification of sports that won medals, the number of gold

medals decreased. Brazil’s gold medals were concentrated in sports such as Athletics, Swimming and Football 5-a-side, taking

the 8th place in the final medal tally. The results of this study also showed that based on the 22 sports that took part in the Rio

2016 PG, only 23% were not dominated by these World Powers.

The case of Rio 2016 PG should serve as a support for other nations that seek to increase elite sports performance through a

thoughtfully strategic planning aiming better performances to the next Paralympic cycle, taking a sport-specific approach.

VISTA 2017 Scientific Conference 169

Andersen, S., Houlihan, B., & Ronglan, L. T. (2015). 1 Systems and the development of elite athletes. Managing Elite

Sport Systems: Research and Practice, 3, 1.

De Bosscher, V., Bingham, J. & Shibli, S., 2008. The global sporting arms race: An international comparative study on sports policy

factors leading to international sporting success: Meyer & Meyer Verlag.

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# 102 Representative test design and individual analysis in wheelchair rugby

David S. Haydon; Ross A. Pinder; Paul Grimshaw; William S.P. Robertson

School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Adelaide; Australian Paralympic Committee

Research in biomechanics and motor learning suggests traditional group analyses appear to be masking important and

meaningful individual differences (Schöllhorn et al., 2009). These differences are likely to be magnified in Paralympic

populations, and there is a need for individualised approaches in applied settings (Pinder et al., 2015). Due to the

restrictions in the peer-review process, where statistical power often outweighs individual assessments, much of the available

research in disability sport has minimal practical application (cf. Churton & Keogh, 2013; Paulson & Goosey-Tolfrey, 2016). For

example, common testing protocols focus on an individual’s physiological adaptation; however, often these constrain athlete

behaviour, resulting in performance that is not representative of game-play. Here, we use wheelchair rugby (WCR) as a task

vehicle to demonstrate the importance of representative testing and individualised approaches to assessment. The main aim for

players in WCR is to avoid opposition blocks and carry a ball over a line to score; hence acceleration from standstill is crucial to

performance (Mason et al., 2010). A large sample of experienced elite WCR players (n=24) completed a series of 5m sprints in

two conditions: i) a self-paced start (a typical sprint testing protocol), and ii) a reactive start including a turn on the spot to

simulate a key aspect of game-play. Video analysis was used to measure key kinematic and performance variables with a focus

on the first three strokes. Additionally, accelerometers (x8m-3mini, Gulf Data Concepts, USA) were secured to the frame to

monitor peak accelerations. Preliminary results demonstrate that small changes to task design can result in significant

changes in kinematic and performance variables. For example, peak accelerations in the reactive start were significantly higher

than in the self-paced start for the mid-point players’ second strokes (0.55g compared with 0.48g, p<.01, d=1.86) and third

strokes (0.57g compared with 0.51g, p<.05, d=0.93). This difference of +0.05g (averaged across the first three strokes)

corresponds to traveling an extra 0.25m, a change in performance that could be the difference in making or escaping a block.

No differences in peak acceleration were evident for the high- or low-point groups; crucially, however, this analysis masks

individual differences. For example, an experienced low- point player displayed large increases (80-158%) in peak acceleration

across all strokes during the self-paced test. This finding is likely due to the development of a propulsion approach that maximizes

their performance when accelerating from standstill in self-paced (testing) situations, with this athlete’s results in the reactive

test comparable with other low point players. Findings demonstrate the importance of careful test design for capturing

representative performance data for research, classification, and performance enhancement in Paralympic sport.

Implications of this and similar research will be discussed, along with a call for changes to current peer-review expectations,

or development of new outlets for applied research on elite athletes with disabilities.

Churton, E., & Keogh, J. W. L. (2013). Constraints influencing sports wheelchair propulsion performance and injury risk. BMC

Sports Science, Medicine, and Rehabilitation, 5(3), 1-10.

Paulson, T., & Goosey-Tolfrey, V. (2016). Current perspectives on profiling and enhancing wheelchair court- sport performance.

International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 24, 1-32.

VISTA 2017 Scientific Conference 170