Differences between Para cross-country skiing and cross-country skiing
In Para cross-country skiing, athletes are classified into three categories for fair competition: ‘standing’, ‘sitting’, and ‘vision impaired’, the latter of which takes place with guides alongside the athletes.
Those categories are further broken down into sport classes, which distinguish the impact of an athlete’s impairments on their ability to participate in fundamental aspects of Para cross-country skiing.
In the sitting category, Para athletes use a ‘sit-ski’, a moulded seat device attached to skis, to compete.
Rather than the final time determining the order of athletes, a formula is used in each sport class and category to produce a ‘factored time’ for the final results.