A total of 10 sports which are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) will undergo name and competition changes as part of an extensive rebrand, it was announced today.
The alterations to the names of the disciplines, including ice sledge hockey changing its name to Para ice hockey, come into effect immediately.
The IPC expect the full rebranding process to last around a year.
It sees the 10 sports adopt new names and new identities using the World Para prefix, while competition titles in World Championships will also adopt a revised format to “give greater prominence to the host city”.
Ice sledge hockey is one of the three sports which has undergone the most noticeable rebrand, along with shooting being named shooting Para sport.
The change to Para ice hockey comes as a result of requests made by the sporting community to remove the word “sledge” due to it having a different meaning in different languages.
The IPC have made the alteration with shooting in order to avoid confusion with the word “parachuting”.
Wheelchair dance sport will now be known as Para dance sport as the IPC continue a drive to further participation in the sport beyond wheelchair users.
“It is hoped that new categories for stand-up dancers wearing prosthesis can be included,” the IPC said.
The other seven sports will simply have the prefix World Para added to their name, for example World Para Athletics.
The IPC has confirmed that all summer sports competitions will follow the new name format immediately, while this will only be implemented at World Championships in winter sports.
It will then fully come into effect for all other winter events, such as World Cups, from the 2017 to 2018 season.
“Our aim with the rebranding of the 10 IPC Sports is three-fold,” IPC commercial and marketing director Alexis Schaefer said.
“Firstly, we hope using ‘Para’ will make the sports more distinctive from the equivalent Olympic or able-bodied sports.
“Secondly, the new look for each sport allows for a more consistent and uniform promotion of Para sport.
“Finally, this move ensures that the Agitos and the word Paralympic is only used in association with the Paralympic Games.
“Although the new sport names and identities have been launched on 30 November, we expect the rebrand process, which will cover a number of assets in each sport, will take a full 12 months to complete.”
Changes made to sports governed by IPC:
| Existing IPC sport committee name | New IPC sport committee name | Sport name |
| IPC Athletics | World Para Athletics | Para athletics |
| IPC Powerlifting | World Para Powerlifting | Para powerlifting |
| IPC Shooting | World Shooting Para Sport | Shooting Para sport |
| IPC Swimming | World Para Swimming | Para swimming |
| IPC Alpine Skiing | World Para Alpine Skiing | Para alpine skiing |
| IPC Biathlon | World Para Nordic Skiing | Para Nordic skiing |
| IPC Cross-Country | World Para Nordic Skiing | Para Nordic skiing |
| IPC Ice Sledge Hockey | World Para Ice Hockey | Para ice hockey |
| IPC Snowboard | World Para Snowboarding | Para snowboard |
| IPC Wheelchair Dance Sport | World Para Dance Sport | Para dance sport |
Source: Inside the games, 30 November, 2016.
Author: Liam Morgan.
We are proud to be recognised by the IPC for dance sport in the UK. We look forward to seeing the new changes under World Para Dance Sport. (WDSAUK)