ABSTRACT
Individuals with vision impairment compete in a range of sports, have several subcategories and the terminology used to differentiate them is sport-specific. Those with the most visual acuity often compete without a support person, whereas those with the least vision will require a seeing guide, such as the lead rider on a tandem bike, or a guide calling instructions in alpine skiing. Consequently, the practitioner could be advising both the visually impaired athlete and their guide when providing sports nutrition advice. Many sports can be modified to enable participation by visually impaired individuals, especially in ways that take advantage of other senses such as hearing. In contrast, some sports such as goalball and 5-a-side football are specifically for this class of athletes. Team sports involve balls containing bells so that athletes are able to hear their location. To enable all categories of vision impairment to compete in these specialised sports at an equal level, blindfolds are used (other than the goalkeeper in football) and interestingly the audience is requested not to make any noise during play so that the competitors can hear the sound of the ball and be able to judge its location and direction of movement.
