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A man holds his arms open in front of a banner for the Americas Paralympic Committee

World Intellectual Impairment Sport sends condolences to family of Jose Luis Campo

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The International Federation for Intellectual Impairment Sport (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) has joined other members of the Paralympic Movement in sending its condolences to the family of Jose Luis Campo, President of the Americas Paralympic Committee (APC), who passed away suddenly on Monday (16 October).

Campo was instrumental in the development of the Paralympic Movement in the Americas, and was hugely supportive of sport for athletes with an intellectual impairment.

“This is such a huge shock and our thoughts are with his family at this very difficult time,” Marc Truffaut, World Intellectual Impairment Sport President, said. “We have lost a very important figurehead not just from the APC but from the Paralympic family as a whole.”

“Jose Luis was a great advocate for World Intellectual Impairment Sport and its athletes. He was always keen to be as inclusive as possible and we will remember his passion and determination with great fondness.”

On Wednesday (18 October), Campo would have celebrated his 60th birthday and leaves behind his wife Sonia Incaurgarat and three children Bernardo, Manuel and Josefina.

A physical education teacher for youngsters with an impairment, Campo was elected the APC’s founding President in 1997. He served two terms until 2005 during which time he worked to establish and develop National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) in the region.

He was elected President once again in 2013 and was currently serving his fourth term following re-election in March 2017 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Campo oversaw the organisation of the inaugural Parapan American Games in Mexico City in 1999. He played an influential role in bringing them to his home city of Mar de Plata in Argentina four years later and then to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2007. Campo also helped create the Youth Parapan American Games.

In 2013 he led the organisation of an eligibility workshop in Costa Rica for Americas NPCs on athletes with intellectual impairments.

In December 2015, months after the hugely successful Toronto 2015 Parapan American Games, Campo signed a historic agreement on behalf of the APC with the Pan American Sports Organisation (PASO). This includes working together on the bid process for the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games as well as the promotion and development of Paralympic sport.

During his current term as President, Campo was working closely with the Organising Committees of the Lima 2019 Parapan American Games and Managua 2018 Para Central-American Games, once again, in order to strengthen the Paralympic Movement in the Americas.

Away from the APC, Campo served on the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Executive Committee from 1997 to 2005 and was an IPC Governing Board member between 2009 and 2013. He was part of the Rio 2016 International Olympic Committee Co-ordination Commission overseeing Latin America’s first Paralympic Games, an event that saw NPCs from the Americas win more medals than ever before.

Campo passed away in Mar del Plata after suffering a suspected heart attack while participating in a fundraising walk/run event to raise funds for organisations fighting children’s cancer.

With thanks to the International Paralympic Committee for additional reporting.

 

Eligibility workshop to be hosted in Aguascalientes

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Adrian Rahier swimming in xxx swimming competition

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The International Federation for Intellectual Impairment Sport (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) has announced that a workshop on athlete eligibility will be held during the 2017 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Swimming Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

The workshop will take place on 1 December and will be led by Professor Jan Burns MBE, Chairperson of the World Intellectual Impairment Sport Eligibility Committee.

It is designed to help people working in National Federations understand the World Intellectual Impairment Sport eligibility process. Some recent developments, including the trials of additional impairment groups for athletes with Down’s syndrome and autism, will also be highlighted and explained.

Delegates can register at the World Intellectual Impairment Sport website and Professor Burns encouraged people to take part:

“As this is the first swimming Championships to take place in the Americas, part of its success will be the legacy that is left behind and we hope that coaches, team members and representatives from federations will come along.

“The workshop is open to all World Intellectual Impairment Sport members but we particularly encourage those from the Americas region to attend. Aguascalientes 2017 provides a great opportunity for our colleagues in the area to learn more about eligibility.

“We are also trying to raise awareness of the crucial role World Intellectual Impairment Sport has in helping athletes go forward to compete in Paralympic competition as well as other elite level events.“

Para-sport has a classification process which all athletes must go through in order to compete. Athletes with an intellectual impairment must meet the criteria as defined by World Intellectual Impairment Sport which are based on the World Health Organisation and American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities definitions.

World Intellectual Impairment Sport manages this process before athletes then go on to be classified according to the sport they compete in.

The workshop is being organised and hosted by FEMEDE (Federación Mexicana de Deportistas Especiales), the Local Organising Committee of the 2017 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Swimming Championships.

The competition itself is expected to attract around 150 swimmers from 20 countries between 28 November – 3 December and is being sanctioned by World Para Swimming.

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The International Federation for Intellectual Impairment Sport (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) represents more than 300,000 athletes with intellectual impairments around the world. We give elite athletes the chance to compete at an international level and on the Paralympic stage. But we cannot continue our work towards the inclusion of the world’s biggest impairment group in society without your support.

We are a registered charity and your help can make a big difference.