INTRODUCTION: In paralympic alpine skiing, "classification" is undertaken to group athletes into Sport Class which aim to ensure that the impact of impairment is minimized and sporting excellence determines which athlete is ultimately victorious (International Ski and Snowboard Federation, 2022). This time, we report on a supplemental examination for the skier who had discrepancies between the results of muscle strength testing and walking and skiing ability. METHODS: One para-alpine skier of the Japanese National Paralympic Alpine Ski Team (age; 46 years; height; 1.59 m; body mass; 48.9 kg) participated in this study. The athlete provided written informed consent to participate in this study; the study was approved by the ethics committee of the Japan Institute of Sports Sciences. A 3-T superconducting magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device (Achieva 3.0T Quasar, Philips, Netherlands) was used to obtain MR images to measure the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the muscles. Five inertial measurement units (IMUs) were placed on the athlete`s body segments (pelvis, right and left thigh, and right and left shank) to measure the hip and knee joint angles during free-skiing. EMG was also monitored via telemetry using a four-channel transmitter (Mini Wave Waterproof, Cometa Systems; Bareggio, Italy) during free-skiing (Ishige et al., 2021). RESULTS: Muscle atrophy was observed in the left upper and lower limbs compared to the right side. The values of the amplitude of EMG were observed in the left side lower limb muscles during free-skiing. There were no big differences in the range of motion of the hip and knee joints between the left and right sides. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: The degree of muscle atrophy was not severe. Surface EMG examination revealed that lower voltage was detected in some muscles on the left side of the lower limb compared to the right side, but still, some electrical activity was preserved during free-skiing. The range of motion of the left side was similar to that of the right side. So, we concluded that this skier is suspected of having a somatoform disorder.
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