New York, NY: SUNY College of Optometry Associate Clinical Professor Dr. Robert Chun has a direct tie to the Paralympics that will begin at the end of August 2024 in Paris, France. Since 2015, Dr. Chun has worked as a vision impairment (VI) classifier for the International Paralympic Committee or IPC. His work included both the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games, and he recently shared some of his experiences with the organization and gave a history of the events.
Q: Can you share with us a short history of The Paralympic Games, the three categories within the games, what are the criteria for someone to qualify for the low vision category, etc.?
- DR. CHUN: The history of the Paralympics began in 1948 with German neurologist Sir Ludwig Guttman who had a vision to rehabilitate his patients with spinal cord injuries by getting them to participate in sports. The small sporting events he organized at his hospital grew into the first ever Paralympic games in Rome in 1960. Today, the Paralympic games are now organized to be held right after the Olympic events and continue to rapidly grow in participation and support.
Currently, the Paralympics include 22 summer and 6 winter sports. Athletes are eligible to compete if they have a certain level of impairment within the 3 categories of physical, intellectual, and visual disability. There are some sports that are low vision specific like Goalball, and others that include athletes competing from all 3 disability categories like Athletics and Swimming.
Q: What is your role as a Low Vision Classifier and how did you come into this position? Briefly explain the process to classify, when that happens, have you ever gone to the games in person?
- DR. CHUN: I became a low vision qualifier because I had a mentor in Chicago that recommended me for the role. He bought my plane ticket to take a special course and exam in Athens, Greece to be certified with about 20 others, and here I am almost 10 years later. Today, there are 45 optometrists and ophthalmologists from all over the world that are certified international vision impairment classifiers. We work as a close team; we all know each other very well. And, we are all driven to support our athletes and the Paralympic movement in this capacity.
Q: What is your role as a classifier? Briefly explain the process to classify, when that happens?
- DR. CHUN: Our role as a VI classifier is to measure visual function with special methods to categorize athletes by severity of vision loss. Why this is important is that we want to ensure fair competition so that one athlete with total blindness is not competing against another with partial blindness. This takes many specialists working together including all the scientific researchers working in the background to validate all the methods we use.
Q: How many athletes are coming in the Low Vision Category this year? How many different sports are in this category? How many are just in this category?
- DR. CHUN: The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will take place between August 28th and September 8th, and will see more than 4,000 athletes from around the world competing in 549 events. The event will showcase all 22 sports, including both individual and team sports. Some events to watch for low vision Paralympians include Athletics, Blind Football, Goalball, Judo, Shooting, and Swimming. But of course, there are many others you should tune in for…
Q: Can you give us a brief overview of the Winter Paralympics? The number of sports in the Low Vision category, are there Winter Sports only found in the Low Vision category, etc
- DR. CHUN: The next Winter Paralympic Games will be in 2026 in Milan and Cortina Italy. There are 6 Winter Paralympic Sports in total but only 3 of these will involve low vision athletes.
- Para alpine skiing
Para biathlon
Para cross-country skiing
Para ice hockey
Para snowboard
Wheelchair curling
Q: Have you ever gone to the games in person?
- DR. CHUN: I’ve never been to the Paralympic Games in person. The way visual classifications run now – we don’t do any of our work during the actual Paralympic Games. I have been to some cool places like Portugal and Australia for other Championship events though.
Q: What is your personal favorite summer sport and your favorite winter sport to watch?
- DR. CHUN: My personal favorite summer sport to watch is Athletics and my favorite winter sport to watch is Alpine Skiing. It’s hard not to get chills watching any of our athletes compete as they are all amazing and talented, and I especially feel inspired, as I know the personal obstacles they’ve had to overcome living with their vision loss. I see it everyday in working with my own patients at SUNY Optometry and the University Eye Center.
For a more detail discussion, Dr. Chun sat down with SUNY Optometry 4th year student Anna Camporese to further talk about his work with the Paralympic Games. That interview can be seen in its entirety on the SUNY Optometry YouTube Channel and in weekly installments through the Paris Paralympic Games on our social media platforms.
To watch the Paralympic Games in the United States, they will air on NBC and on the streaming service Peacock.
Media Contact: Rob Rosiello, communications@sunyopt.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, August 22, 2024
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About SUNY Optometry
Founded in 1971 and located in New York City, the State University of New York College of Optometry is a leader in education, research, and patient care, offering the Doctor of Optometry degree as well as MS and PhD degrees in vision science. The College conducts a robust program of basic, translational and clinical research and has 65 affiliated clinical training sites as well as an on-site clinic, the University Eye Center. SUNY Optometry is regionally accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools; its four-year professional degree program and residency programs are accredited by the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education of the American Optometric Association. All classrooms, research facilities and the University Eye Center, which is one of the largest optometric outpatient facilities in the nation, are located on 42nd Street in midtown Manhattan. To learn more about SUNY Optometry, visit www.sunyopt.edu.