Paralympics: Classification Highlights the Gap between the Ideal and the Reality

Paralympic swimming star Jessica Long, a five-time Paralympian with a winning record stretching back to the 2004 Athens Paralympics, photographed on September 2, 2021, at the Tokyo Aquatics Center. (© AFP/Jiji)

Itō Tomoya competes in the wheelchair T53 class on August 29, 2021, at the Japan National Stadium, coming in sixth in a field of seven and failing to advance in the heats. In his usual class, his time would have been faster than the bronze medalist’s final record. (© Jiji)