Exeter's Victoria Arlen Could Be Disqualified in London Paralympics

Exeter's Victoria Arlen could be disqualified from the London Paralympics after a governing body ruled her disability isn't severe enough.

The BBC reported the International Paralympic Committee this week ruled Arlen, a swimmer, is not eligibile to compete. She will continue to swim, however, after United States officials appealed the ruling.

The 17-year-old Arlen attends . She is paralyzed from the waist down after she was afflicted by the spinal cord disease transverse myelitis.

The IPC is expected to make a final ruling on Arlen's status after she swims, according to the BBC.

WMUR-TV spoke with Victoria's mother, who said her daughter has been the subject of a "witch hunt."

Her mother said the situation has motivated Victoria to compete harder.

Arlen earned international attention earlier this year when she several Paralympic world records in swimming.

On Saturday, she will compete in the qualifying races in 400-meter freestyle. She currently holds the world record in that event.

Arlen's biggest competitor is Ellie Simmonds, a British native who has achondroplasia, which causes drawfism.

Below is a statement from the IPC about Arlen's situation:

Following evaluation in London, the USA swimmer Victoria Arlen was ruled Non-Eligible (NE). This ruling was made because certain information was not provided to the Classification Panel at that evaluation.

An athlete who is designated as being NE usually has an automatic opportunity to protest and be re-evaluated. Because of the unusual circumstances of the evaluation, this opportunity was not available. Arlen therefore appealed the NE decision to the Board of Appeal of Classification (BAC). The appeal was not contested, in order that Arlen could have an opportunity to be re-assessed.

A second assessment has now taken place, with Arlen providing the information absent from the first evaluation at this second assessment. The outcome of the assessment is S6 - SB5 - SM6, being the class Arlen was entered into London 2012 for. The class allocation is subject to any modification that may be made following observation in competition.