The IBSA joint Head of Classification, Ludwig Krabbe, from the German National Paralympic Committee, was awarded by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) with the “Classification Recognition Award”, in the last IPC Anual Classification Meeting that took place in Cairo, Egypt.

This award was delivered for the first time to four people, with Mr. Krabbe being the only male doctor and visual impairment (VI) classifier recognised.

“I was surprised to get this award; I wasn’t expecting it at all. It is a recognition of my work as a classifier as well as of my work behind the scenes. I was especially very proud that they thought of me at first to get it”.

Ludwig Krabbe has over 30 years of experience in ophthalmology and earned an additional qualification in sport medicine in 2001. He has also been involved in classification with athletes for vision impairment for over 20 years. Started as a national classifier in 2001 and has been classifying internationally since 2008, Mr. Krabbe has contributed to advancing VI classification for the movement and trained generations of classifiers with his impressive leadership.

“The challenge of classification at IBSA is to create an independent classification body. Classifiers, IBSA Assist, and ISAS must be independent of event makers. IBSA is fighting against misrepresentation and against movements trying to manipulate VI-classification. Furthermore, IBSA classifiers are fighting for better VI-classification understanding in all areas of sports. For better VI-classification, IBSA is committed to the education of national classifiers and the support of other international federations. To summarise, IBSA VI classifiers expertise on all VI-classification subjects covers not only IBSA-supervised sports but all other sports for VI”.