# Able bodied people-Wheelchair Sport. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 15, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/able-bodied-people-wheelchair-sport/168877 "2003-04-15T14:28:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f19dbf/32.png) [@Paddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paddle)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/able-bodied-people-wheelchair-sport/168877/1 "2003-04-15T14:28:48Z")
Should able bodied people be allowed to compete in sports such as wheelchair athletics? If not, then where should the line be drawn on who can/can’t compete? My personal opinion is that it should be open to everyone. Seems the fairest way. I’ll wait to see what others think, though. Phil. ---
**Author:** ![Mort\_Furd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mort\_Furd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mort_Furd)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/able-bodied-people-wheelchair-sport/168877/2 "2003-04-15T15:05:06Z")
Hmm. Tough one. My reaction is to say that able bodied people should not participate in wheelchair sports - it seems to me they would be mocking the people who must use a wheelchair. But, your argument about fairness strikes a chord, too. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/able-bodied-people-wheelchair-sport/168877/3 "2003-04-15T15:19:40Z")
That would be fun! You’d kick their ass! ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/able-bodied-people-wheelchair-sport/168877/4 "2003-04-15T16:25:38Z")
No, able-bodied people should not be allowed to participate in wheelchair sports, because it wouldn’t be fair. –it wouldn’t be fair to the able-bodied people, that is. You seen the shoulders on some of those wheelchair marathoners and basketball players? They do it all day, every day, and they’re in _shape_. It’d be like some amateur tennis player who likes to hit a ball around on weekends going up against Monica Seles… ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/able-bodied-people-wheelchair-sport/168877/5 "2003-04-15T16:33:44Z")
I think what Paddle is getting at is, how much “wheelchair bound” does a person have to be to compete? What if you are able to walk for short distances, but use a wheelchair from time to time? Not sure if the is truly a “Great” Debate, but it’s certainly somthing I’ve never thought of before. I’m guessing there are already some rules about this somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2003, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/able-bodied-people-wheelchair-sport/168877/6 "2003-04-15T17:07:17Z")
It’s not just a matter of using a wheelchair, there are many levels of disability among those that do. It’s not “fair” for someone who has complete use of their arms to compete against someone who doesn’t, for example. Or someone paralyzed from the waist down against someone paralyzed from the chest down. Here is one set of classification rules: [http://www.wsusa.org/rule\_menu.htm](http://www.wsusa.org/rule_menu.htm). ---
**Author:** ![woolly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ebca7d/32.png) [@woolly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woolly)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/able-bodied-people-wheelchair-sport/168877/7 "2003-04-16T10:01:14Z")
what ddg said … One of the biggest drawcards at the Sydney Paralympics was the sport [wheelchair rugby](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/paralympics/news/2000/10/24/wheelchair_rugby/) aka “murderball”. After a session the question from most of the crowd was “Did you guys become quadraplegics before or after you started playing this?”.