Divisioning in Sports by Special Olympics

Special Olympics uses a competitive-level matching system called divisioning, which is one of its fundamental rules. Athletes are matched with others of the same gender, of about the same age and — most importantly — of about the same competitive ability.

The fundamental difference between Special Olympics competitions and those of other sports organisations is that athletes of all ability levels are encouraged to take part, and every athlete is recognised for his or her performance. Competitions are structured into equitable divisions, so that each athlete competes against others of similar ability and everyone has a genuine chance to do well.

How this differs from classification. Section 4.2's two grouping systems serve different communities for different reasons. Paralympic classification groups athletes by the type and degree of their physical, visual or intellectual impairment, because elite disability sport needs winning to reflect skill rather than the accident of who has the lesser impairment. Special Olympics divisioning groups athletes by their demonstrated performance level, regardless of the type of disability they have, because the aim here is different: every participant, from a first-time athlete to a highly skilled one, should end up in a division where they can genuinely compete and be recognised — the same underlying idea mainstream sport uses when children are grouped by age-category, or wrestlers and boxers by weight-category, so that a contest stays fair rather than one-sided. …