Every participant at the Paralympics has their disability grouped into one of five disability categories; amputation, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories; visual impairment, including blindness; Les autres, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example dwarfism or multiple sclerosis.[11][12] Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent upon the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing. Some sports, such as athletics, divide athletes by both the category and severity of their disabilities, other sports, for example swimming, group competitors from different categories together, the only separation being based on the severity of the disability.[13]
Chen Yu Chia was 18 years old at the time of the Rio Summer Paralympics,[2] and these Paralympics were his second significant international competition, after the 2014 Asian Para Games.[9] He has an intellectual disability and is classified S14 in swimming.[2] Chen qualified for the Games because the International Paralympic Committee granted him a wild card place in August 2016.[7][14] On 11 September, he competed in the men's 200 metre freestyle S14 tournament and was assigned heat two.[8] Chen completed the heat in sixth and last position with a new personal best time of two minutes and 12.11 seconds. This put him 17th and last overall and he did not progress to the final since only the eight overall fastest swimmers made that stage of the competition.[8][15] Six days later, Chen participated in the men's 200 metre individual medley SM14.[8] Drawn into the second heat by organisers, he came six out of seven athletes, with another personal best time of two minutes and 32.26 seconds. Chen's competition ended at the qualification round since only the fastest eight swimmers advanced to the final and he was 19th overall.[8]
^"Macau não deve abrir mão de sonho olímpico, defende Manuel Silvério" [Macau should not give up an Olympic dream, defends Manuel Silvério]. Ponto Final (in Portuguese). 19 September 2016.
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