Australia at the 1976 Summer Paralympics

Australia at the Paralympic Games

Flag of Australia
IPC code  AUS
NPC Australian Paralympic Committee
At the 1976 Summer Paralympics in Toronto
Competitors
Medals
Rank: 11		 Gold
16		 Silver
18		 Bronze
8		 Total
42
Paralympic history (summary)
Summer Games
Winter Games

Australia sent a team to compete at the 1976 Summer Paralympics in Toronto, Canada. Australia won 42 medals - 16 gold, 18 silver and 8 bronze medals in six sports. Australia finished 11th on the gold medal table.[1] For the previous four Paralympic Games, participation was restricted to spinal cord injury athletes. Other disabilities – amputees, Cerebral Palsy, Intellectual Impaired and Vision Impaired – were unable to compete at the Paralympic Games. However, they had their own local and national competitions and, in some cases, their own world championships. Canadian athletes from each of disabilities, amputees, spinal cord injuries and visually impaired, lit the flame at the Opening ceremony at Woodbine Racecourse in front of 20 000 spectators.[2] Australian athletes in the amputee and vision impaired events performed very well in their first Paralympic Games. Australia’s four amputees athletes won two gold, three silver and one bronze medal with Gail Nicholson starring in the pool winning the freestyle and backstroke events. Similarly, Vision impaired athletes won two gold and one silver in lawn bowls while, in track and field, three silver and two bronze medals were secured. In terms of the 32 spinal cord injury athletes,[3] Australia produced two triple gold medalists in Eric Russell and Tracey Freeman. Russell won the discus, shot put and the pentathlon; Freeman won the wheelchair sprint, javelin and shot put, creating three world records in events for quadriplegics as well as picking up silver medals in the slalom and discus.[4] Freeman’s incredible effort earned her the Queensland Sportswomen of the Year Award, the first time it has been given to a disabled athlete, and marked the end of her international career. Her career only spanned two Paralympics, as the injuries from a car accident thwarted her efforts to qualify for the 1980 Paralympics, but she won 10 medals, six of which were gold.[5] Likewise this was the last Paralympics for Vic Renalson who won the gold medal in middleweight weightlifting to add to his three other weightlifting medals and six other medals in track and field. After his retirement, Renalson would go onto become successful coach with the Australian institute of sport and at the Seoul Paralympic Games.[6]

Notable Australian performances were:

Team

Qualifying for the 1976 Summer Paralympics for individual events took place at the National Games held in Brisbane earlier in the year.[7] Selection for team sports was made by the Australian Paraplegic and Quadriplegic Council with assistance from the state organisations.[8]

The federal government provided a number of grants to help cover the travel costs for the Australian national Paralympic team to go to Toronto for the games. These subsidies were small and most athletes were expected to pay their own way in order to compete.[7]

Medalists

Medal Name Sport Event
 Gold Patchett, WayneWayne Patchett Athletics Men's Discus throw 1A
 Gold Russell, EricEric Russell Athletics Men's Discus throw 3
 Gold Russell, EricEric Russell Athletics Men's Shot put 3
 Gold Russell, EricEric Russell Athletics Men's Pentathlon 3
 Gold Freeman, TraceyTracey Freeman Athletics Women’s 60 m 1C
 Gold Freeman, TraceyTracey Freeman Athletics Women’s Javelin throw 1C
 Gold Freeman, TraceyTracey Freeman Athletics Women’s Shot put 1C
 Gold Ross, MargaretMargaret Ross, John Kestel Dartchery Mixed pairs open
 Gold Farmer, RobertRobert Farmer Lawn bowls Men’s Singles A
 Gold Magennis, EricEric Magennis, Bruce Thwaite Lawn bowls Men’s Pairs wh
 Gold Jackson, AdeleAdele Jackson, Charmaine Smith Lawn bowls Women’s Pairs B
 Gold Richards, ElizabethElizabeth Richards Shooting Mixed rifle shooting 2-5
 Gold Nicholson, GailGail Nicholson Swimming Women’s 100 m freestyle C
 Gold Nicholson, GailGail Nicholson Swimming Women’s 100 m backstroke C
 Gold English, PaulinePauline English Swimming Women’s 25 m butterfly 4
 Gold Renalson, VicVic Renalson Weightlifting Men's middleweight
 Silver Faulkner, RobertRobert Faulkner Athletics Men’s 100 m B
 Silver Rupe, DougDoug Rupe Athletics Men’s High jump A
 Silver Mosely, M.M. Mosely Athletics Men’s Discus throw C1
 Silver Russell, EricEric Russell Athletics Men’s Javelin throw 3
 Silver Kidd, JohnJohn Kidd Athletics Men’s Javelin throw 4
 Silver Mikulic, JagoJago Mikulic Athletics Men’s Javelin throw A
 Silver Patchett, WayneWayne Patchett Athletics Men’s Shot put 1A
 Silver Todd, MurrayMurray Todd Athletics Men’s Shot put 2
 Silver Freeman, TraceyTracey Freeman Athletics Women’s Discus throw 1C
 Silver Freeman, TraceyTracey Freeman Athletics Women’s Slalom 1C
 Silver Schreiber, ElaineElaine Schreiber Athletics Women’s Javelin throw 2
 Silver Handbridge, J.J. Handbridge Lawn bowls Men’s Singles C
 Silver Smith, CharmaineCharmaine Smith Lawn bowls Women’s Singles B
 Silver Hind, JohnJohn Hind Swimming Men’s 25 m freestyle 2
 Silver Hind, JohnJohn Hind Swimming Men’s 25 m butterfly 2
 Silver Hind, JohnJohn Hind Swimming Men’s 75 m individual medley 2
 Silver Michael, LynLyn Michael Swimming Women’s 25 m freestyle 2
 Silver Michael, LynLyn Michael Swimming Women’s 75 m individual medley 2
 Bronze Marsh, PeterPeter Marsh Athletics Men’s 60 m 1A
 Bronze Marsh, PeterPeter Marsh Athletics Men’s Precision club throw 1A-1B
 Bronze Gianni, PaulPaul Gianni Athletics Men’s 100 m B
 Bronze Kestel, JohnJohn Kestel Athletics Men’s Javelin throw 2
 Bronze Mikulic, JagoJago Mikulic Athletics Men’s Pentathlon A
 Bronze Kubig, RoyRoy Kubig Swimming Men’s 50 m backstroke 3
 Bronze English, PaulinePauline English Swimming Women’s 150 m individual medley 4
 Bronze Mason, TerryTerry Mason Weightlifting Men's light featherweight

[1]
Medals by discipline
Discipline Total
Archery 0 0 0 0
Athletics 7 11 5 23
Dartchery 1 0 0 1
Lawn bowls 3 2 0 5
Shooting 1 0 0 1
Snooker 0 0 0 0
Swimming 3 5 2 10
Table tennis 0 0 0 0
Weightlifting 1 0 1 2
Wheelchair basketball 0 0 0 0
Wheelchair fencing 0 0 0 0
Total 16 18 8 42

Events

Archery

Australia represented by:
Men – Wayne Flood, Roy Fowler, Jeff Heath, Ross Soutar
Women – Charmaine McLean, Elizabeth Richards, Margaret Ross
[1] Australia did not win any medals.

Athletics

Australia represented by:
Men – Vic Faulkner, Wayne Flood, Paul Gianni, Dennis Kay, John Kestel, John Kidd, Stan Kosmala, Peter Marsh, John Martin, Terry Mason, Robert McIntyre, Jeff McNeil, Jago Mikulic, M. Moseby, Richard Oliver, Wayne Patchett, Frank Ponta, Vic Renalson, Doug Rupe, Eric Russell Ross Soutar, Murray Todd
Women – Tracey Freeman, Elaine Scheiber
[1] Australia won 23 medals - 7 gold, 11 silver and 5 bronze medals.

Dartchery

Australia represented by:
Men – Roy Fowler, Jeff Heath, John Kestel
Women – Elizabeth Richards, Charmaine McLean, Margaret Ross
[1] Australia won 1 gold medal - John Kestel and Margaret Ross in Mixed pairs open

Lawn Bowls

Australia represented by:
Men – Robert Farmer, J. Handbridge, Eric Magennis, Bruce Thwaite
Women – Adele Jackson, Charmaine Smith
[1] Australia won 5 medals - 3 gold and 2 silver medals.

Shooting

Australia represented by:
Men – Kevin Bawden, J. Handbridge
Women – Elizabeth Richards
[1] Australia won 1 gold medal through Elizabeth Richard's performance in Mixed rifle shooting 2-5.

Snooker

Australia represented by:
Men – Wayne Flood
[1] Australia did not win a medal.

Swimming

Australia represented by:
Men – Vic Faulkner, G. Green, John Hind, Roy Kubig, Brian Sullivan
Women – Pauline English, Lyn Michael, Gail Nicholson
[1] Australia won 10 medals - 3 gold, 5 silver and 2 bronze medals.

Table Tennis

Australia represented by:
Men – Kevin Bawden, Wayne Flood, Ray Letheby, Peter Marsh, John Martin, Ross Soutar
Women – Elaine Schreiber
[1] Australia did not win any medals.

Weightlifting

Australia represented by:
Men – Terry Mason, Vic Renalson
[1] Australia won 2 medals - gold medal by Vic Renalson and bronze medal by Terry Mason

Wheelchair Basketball

Australia represented by:
Men - Kevin Bowden, John Kidd, Stan Kosmala, Ray Letheby, John Martin, Robert McIntyre, Richard Oliver, Frank Ponta, Eric Russell, Victor Salvamini Coach - Les Mathews
[9]

Australian results: Sweden 79 v Australia 51, Belgium 43 v Australia 30, United States 93 v Australia 34, Australia 57 v Japan 42. Australia did not qualify for the finals.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13
  2. ↑ Brittain, From Mandeville to Stradtford, 121-122
  3. ↑ “Australian results at the 1976 Paralympics” (http://www.paralympic.org/Results). International Paralympic Committee Results Database. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  4. ↑ “Eric Russell (athlete)” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Russell_(athlete))
  5. ↑ “Tracey Freeman” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracey_Freeman)
  6. ↑ “Vic Renalson” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vic_Renalson)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Betters 1979, p. 87
  8. ↑ Betters 1979, p. 88
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Paralympic Games 1960-1980". Wheelchair can jump : a history of wheelchair basketball. Retrieved 28 June 2012.

Further reading

Bibliography

  • Betters, Kevin F. (1979). "The challenge of sport". Sport for the Handicapped. Australian Council for Rehabilitation of Disabled. pp. 86–88. OCLC 7574272.