Annotation

The article analyzes the terms used in Russian legislation on physical culture and sports regarding persons with disabilities. The author critically evaluates the concepts of “disabled person,” “sports for the disabled”, and the notion of “temporary disability”. Methodological framework: the study employs general scientific and specific scientific research methods, including comparative legal, formal legal, and linguistic analysis. Results: a comprehensive interdisciplinary analysis of the aforementioned terms is conducted, along with a justification for their use in adaptive sports, applying a person-centered approach based on the author’s own social status as a “person disabled since childhood”. Conclusions: based on the regulations of sports competitions and the principles of the Olympic Charter, it is argued that temporary health disorders are inapplicable to elite sports, as allowing such athletes violates the principles of fair competition and creates risks for funding. The necessity of unifying terminology is substantiated, and the use of the correct constructions “person with limited health capacities” or “person with a disability” is proposed. Expanding adaptive sports to include persons with temporary health disorders is inadmissible in order to preserve the competitive integrity of elite sports among persons with disabilities.