The basics

The 800m starts with a staggered start run two full circuits of the track; athletes start in lanes, but may break from their lanes when they reach the break line after the first bend.

The 1500m is raced over three and three-quarter laps of the track. Athletes start behind an arc that ensures that every athlete is the same distance from the finish. On starting, athletes may move towards the inside lane straight away.

Competition format

The number of heats and rounds depends on the number of athletes competing, but there will not be more than three rounds – heat, semi-final, final – in any event.

The draw to determine which heat an athlete will run in is decided by their initial seedings (based on previous performance) for the first round, and then both their performances after that as well as in the qualifying period are taken into account, ensuring that the highest seeded athletes are not allocated the same heat.

For more information, please go to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) website.

Read more about classifications in Paralympic Athletics