– I have to be honest and say that it’s silly. When there are such small margins between the classes, I think it’s silly for athletes to go up and down, says Salum Kashafali.
Kashafali ran into 2nd place in a time of 10.67 in Wednesday’s 100 meters in the para at the Bislett Games. Skander Djamil Atmani won the race in a time of 10.52.
– It’s very frustrating. When I run so fast in training and am better than ever. I need competition to get the quality I need. It’s fucking crap that I can’t put together a race, Kashafali tells NRK right after the race.
Kashafali also met with NRK ahead of the Bislett Games. He is very unhappy with how he has had to jump between different para classes in recent years.
Watch Bislett Games with Salum Kashafali, Markus Rooth and Sander Skotheim and Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal on NRK. The broadcast starts at 20.05. Karsten Warholm runs the 300 meter hurdles on Thursday.
What can Olympic champion Markus Rooth achieve when he teams up with Sander Skotheim in a three-game duel?
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What can Olympic champion Markus Rooth achieve when he teams up with Sander Skotheim in a three-game duel?
– Feel like swearing
The Bergen native is visually impaired and began competing in the para class in 2019. For the past six years, he has alternated between being placed in two classes:
- Class T12 from 2019 to 2023 Class T13 from 2023 to 2025 Class T12 from spring 2025
Para-klassene:
These are the classes for visual impairment in athletics:
- T11: Totally blind. Runs with companion and uses eye mask. T12: Severely impaired vision. Can use companion. T13: Moderately visually impaired. Runs without companion.
– In 2023 I was reclassified up to T13 for a two-year period. This year I went to Switzerland and took another test and was downgraded to T12, says Kashafali.
He says that he is now placed in the T12 class, but that this may change later in June. In Madrid, he will conduct a confirmation test to confirm that T12 is the correct class.
– If I were to move up to T13 again, which is possible the test shows, I would have to take another test at the World Championships. So I don’t know where I’ll end up at the World Championships, says a despairing Kashafali and continues:
– First I’m in T12. Four years later I end up in T13 and stay there. Two years later I’m down to T12 again. I feel like swearing.
The World Cup will be held in New Delhi, India, from September 26 to October 5.
NRK has attempted to contact the International Paralympic Committee, but has so far been unsuccessful.
Small factors can make a difference
Sports director for para sports at the Norwegian Athletics Federation Runar Steinstad has seen classifications of Kashafali.
He says that the changes between classes are due to what may seem obvious:
– Salum is right on the border.
He elaborates that when you are in between classes like Kashafali, small factors like poor sleep or lighting can determine how the vision test results will be.
Steinstad would like to see a clearer distinction between the classes, but believes there is no simple solution to that.
– Many may say it is unnecessary, but it is to ensure fairness. The view he had on the last test was a verification that he is T12, says the sports director.
Many may say it is unnecessary, but it is to ensure fairness. The view he had on the last test was a verification that he is T12, says the sports director.Many may say it is unnecessary, but it is to ensure fairness. The view he had on the last test was a verification that he is T12, says the sports director.
– Seems inconsistent
Seems inconsistentSeems inconsistent
NRK’s athletics expert Christina Vukicevic Demidov is also surprised that Kashafali is being moved up a class.
– It doesn’t seem very consistent. I think it’s a bit special, although I don’t know the reason, says the athletics commentator.
SHORTS: NRK’s athletics expert Christina Vukicevic Demidov.
However, she believes that moving to T12 is not a huge disadvantage. She points out that he has competition from Algerian Atmani in T13.
– Now that he’s going back to T12, he’ll once again face runners like Malone and the others who’ve been there all along. But he’ll be getting rid of a very strong competitor in Skander Djamil Atmani, says Demidov.
But Kashafali would rather be in his usual class.
– I really want to be in T13, but I can’t decide. In T13 it’s more fun, because there are eight people running in a lane. In T12 there are only people in every other lane, so you can’t feel your competitors, says Kashafali.