22.7.2019 Science to help Paralympic sit skiing more fair and equal (Rosso)
The overall agreement in the biomechanics of sit skiers while skiing on snow and during simulated action of poling on a ski ergometer allowed ski ergometer to be used to measure athletes’ performance. Balance tests with athletes’ personal sit-ski and with a new standard machine determined trunk kinematics for representing athletes’ trunk control impairment. Strength tests performed with the new testing device identified generated force as significant descriptor of athletes’ trunk strength impairment.
Because the definition of a measure of performance and a measure of impairment is of key importance for the development of a new classification system, the current results offer the basis for the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to define the new classification system for cross-country sit skiing.
- IPC can also benefit from these results for other sitting sports because usually athletes who practice sitting disciplines have impairment of trunk. This work can be seen as a step in the direction of strengthening the union between Paralympic sports and science, MSc Valeria Rosso from the Ģֱ and the Politecnico di Torino says.
The classification process is one of the most demanding aspects of the Paralympic Games
- To ensure that competitions are fair and equal and the impairment effects on performance are minimized, athletes are divided into classes according to their personal functional impairment, Rosso explains.
IPC appointed different European Universities, including Ģֱ and the Politecnico di Torino, to contribute to the development of a new evidence-based classification for cross-country sit skiing. The purpose of Rosso’s Ph.D thesis was to develop measures of performance and of impairment for cross-country sit skiers.
Experimental facilities at the Ģֱ, in particular at the Sport Technology Unit in Vuokatti, allowed the research team to conduct tests in the Vuokatti Ski Tunnel and in a laboratory collecting data of elite athletes during two different Word Championships held in Vuokatti. Tests consisted of performance tests on snow and in the laboratory and a balance test in the laboratory using athletes’ personal sit-ski. In addition, a new testing machine was designed at the Politecnico di Torino to conducted balance and strength tests that can be used for classification purposes.
M.Sc. Valeria Rosso defends her doctoral dissertation “Biomechanics in Paralympic Cross-Country Sit Skiing; Evidence-based Tests for Classification” Monday 22nd of July at Sala Ferrari, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino. Opponent is Professor Francesco Bottiglione (Politecnico di Bari, Italy) and Custos Professor Laura Gastaldi (Politecnico di Torino). The doctoral dissertation is held in English.
The research was conducted under a cotutelle agreement between the Ģֱ and the Politecnico di Torino and it is published in JYU Dissertation series No. 101. ISSN 2489-9003, ISBN 78-951-39-7807-5 (PDF). Link to publication:
Valeria Rosso obtained her M.Sc. Degree in Biomedical Engineering at the Politecnico di Torino (Italy), in 2011. She started a joint doctoral study at the Politecnico di Torino and Ģֱ in 2014. The project was funded by Politecnico di Torino, Ģֱ, Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, Fondazione CRT, VivoMeglio project and IPC.