Wheelchair basketballer Barbara Gross in eligibility battle

The news hit Babara Gross like a freight train. 

"I was in a state of shock for several days," she tells DW. "I couldn't believe what had just happened."

At the end of July, the Germany wheelchair basketballer found out she would not be allowed to compete at the Paralympic Summer Games in Tokyo, which had been postponed to 2021.

Gross was told her handicap isn't sufficient to participate in the Games, according to the International Paralympic Committee's (IPC) criteria.

The devastating news reached Gross in Tuscaloosa, the American city where the 26-year-old is studying marketing at the University of Alabama alongside playing for the wheelchair basketball team.

She hasn't had much time to brood over the decision due to her busy schedule, which, together with support from her Germany teammates, has helped Gross deal with the shock.

"I have an incredibly great team," she explains. "Within two hours I had all the players and coaches on the phone. Everyone said they would support me."  

Five medals at major events

Gross has been an integral part of the squad for five years. She won silver at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro and bronze at the 2018 World Championships, while she's collected gold (2015), silver (2017), and bronze (2019) medal at the European Championships.

Along with Gross, eight other wheelchair basketballers have been disqualified from competing at the Tokyo Paralympics. They too had previously represented their countries at major tournaments and in qualifying for Tokyo.

The appeals process is underway but could last up to seven months.

"In the end I cannot influence it. It's the decision of the committee, who will examine my application and evaluate whether I will be admitted or not," Gross says.

"I have done everything I can do. At the moment, I'll just keep on training as if it'll all work out."

But the emotional burden cannot be underestimated.

"Especially at the end of August and the beginning of September, during the period when the Paralympics were supposed to take place, I thought about it often," she admits. "What will I do if this turns out negative? How will I deal with it?"

Global solidarity

Germany captain Mareike Miller has been leading the protests against Gross' exclusion and admitted the limbo is "an exhausting, stressful situation".

"We're waiting and waiting to find out who will now be allowed to compete with us in the Paralympic Games," Miller says.

The tedious procedure and lack of communication between the associations has been a draining experience, according to Miller. Gross and her teammates are at least not alone in this fight.

"The wheelchair basketball world is a rather small one, everyone knows just about everyone," Gross says. "So I was counting on this solidarity. But the fact that it was so big surprised and impressed me."

More than 19,000 people signed a petition launched by Briton George Bates, who was also deemed ineligible. The petition demands a change to the IPC's classification code.

A number of international wheelchair basketball teams has also called on the IPC to allow all athletes who participated in qualifying for the Tokyo Games to be allowed to compete.

A joint statement complained that "athletes are being used as pawns in a governance dispute between the IPC and the IWBF (International Wheelchair Basketball Federation)".

Tussle between federations

The International Paralympic Committee has so far rejected direct talks with "independent athlete representatives", instead responding with an open letter. It put the blame squarely on the IWBF for the scandal.

The IWBF, despite repeated requests, is the only world federation in disabled sports that has failed to fully implement the IPC classification code that was first adopted in 2015.

The IPC has issued an ultimatum, threatening that wheelchair basketball would be removed from the Paralympics 2024 program if the changes are not complete by the end of August next year.

The IWBF has repeatedly rejected the IPC's accusations.

"The IPC is not disputing the fact that these athletes have a disability, they clearly do. What we are saying however is that the athletes in question do not have a disability that fits within the 10 recognised impairment groups that are permitted to compete in Paralympic sport," the IPC replied when asked by DW.

"Non-eligible athletes will not be permitted to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games."

Basketball has helped Gross "incredibly"

Barbara Gross was seriously injured in a car accident in 2002 when she was just eight years old. She'd been active in many sports in her childhood but despite several operations the bone and cartilage damage in her knee and ankle remained irreparable.

"Since the accident I've never been able to do 'pedestrian sports' again," she says.

Gross is not confined to a wheelchair in everyday life, but she still has pain and her joints have limited mobility. Wheelchair basketball has become "one of the most important things" in her life.

"Wheelchair basketball has helped me move forward incredibly. I learned a lot about life very early on."

In five weeks, Gross will take her university exams. After that she wants to return to Germany and continue to play wheelchair basketball "regardless of whether or not I'm allowed to play internationally in the future".

At a national level, even non-disabled people are allowed to compete in the sport. 

"I simply enjoy it," she says. "For me, wheelchair basketball is one of the most interesting sports of all, also because of the diversity of the players."

But Gross is not giving up on her dream of starting in Tokyo anytime soon.

"As long as the protest isn't rejected, I'll just tell myself that it will be granted. And if not? Then I must somehow learn to deal with the result."