Wheelchair rugby
Canada's Garett Hickling vs. USA's Bryan Kirkland at a wheelchair rugby game | |
| Characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Type | Wheelchair sport, rugby sport |
| Presence | |
| Paralympic | Yes, demonstrated in 1996, medal event since 2000 |
| World Games | Yes, demonstrated in 2022 |
Wheelchair rugby is a team sport for athletes with a disability that is practiced in over twenty-five countries and is a summer Paralympic Games sport. Five Canadians, who were looking for sports accessible to people with tetraplegia, created wheelchair rugby in 1976. The game is played indoors on a hardwood court; it includes physical contact between wheelchairs. The rules include elements from wheelchair basketball, ice hockey, handball and rugby union. In wheelchair rugby, players cannot kick the ball; they must move it towards the goal by carrying it while in a wheelchair. Wheelchair rugby uses a spherical ball, unlike that used in traditional rugby.
There are several codes of wheelchair rugby, the oldest being a four-against-four version originally named murderball or quad. Players must have some loss of function in at least three limbs to qualify for this version. Other versions of the game were created for different disability levels; there exists a three-against-three version for players with major impairments and a more inclusive, five-discipline version.
The sport is governed by the World Wheelchair Rugby (WWR), which was established in 1993.