Australia at the 1968 Summer Paralympics

Sir Ludwig Guttman was a German and Jewish neurologist who worked with the disabled in the national spinal injuries center called the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England.[2][7][8] Sport for the disabled was involved in the rehabilitation of spinal cord injury patients as it was believed to provide a physiological and psychological therapy.[2][9][10] Guttman organised a competition with Archery and Javelin called the Stoke Mandeville Games that began on 28 July in 1948, the same day as the opening of the 1948 Olympic Games in London, with the hope it would one day become the Olympic Games for the disabled.[4][2][10] This competition became international in 1952 when athletes from Holland participated and continued to grow.[7][11][2] Sir Ludwig Guttman visited the Melville Rehabilitation Centre and invited Australian athletes to compete in the Stoke Mandeville Games in 1957.[11][12][8] The 1960 Stoke Mandeville Games in Rome have been officially recognised by the International Olympic Committee as the first Summer Paralympic Games and Guttman went down in history as the man who connected rehabilitation to competitive sport and created the Paralympic Games.

The 1968 Paralympic Games were held in Tel Aviv from 4 to 13 November, in and around the ILAN Sports Centre. The four other locations that were used were the Hayarkon Souts Club, Ramat Gan Stadium and the Ramat Gan Bowling Club.[2][8] The logo of the 1968 Games represents three interlocking wheelchair wheels that were used by the Stoke Mandeville Games at the time and represent the ideals of the Games which are friendship, unity and sportsmanship.[2] ISMG 1968 stands for International Stoke Mandeville Games 1968, which was the name of the Games before they were labelled the Paralympics.[7][2] The length of the 1968 Pralympics was longer than that of the Paralympics prior in both Rome in 1960 and Tokyo in 1964.[4][13][1]

The Paralympic games expanded in 1968 compared to previous years as the participating nations increased by seven to include Canada, Ethiopia, India, Jamaica, Korea, New Zealand and Spain in their first Paralympics in Tel Aviv.[4][1][2] The Games saw an increase in sports with the addition of Lawn Bowls and an increase in the number of events from 144 to 188 with changes in classifications and Women's Basketball and the Men's 100m Sprint were added.[13][9][14][2][1] The 1968 Paralympics saw a large increase in participation in that there were 378 in Tokyo and 750 athletes in Tel Aviv.[1][13][14] The only type of disability included in Tel Aviv was spinal cord injuries, other disabilities were not added until 1976.[7][1] At this time, the wheelchairs used by the Australian athletes were multipurpose and few had changes to them from the generic everyday wheelchair that increased stability or maneuverability to specialise them for sport.[8][7][2] There were also restrictions in that athletes could not use straps to secure them to the wheelchair and rules were provided for cushion and wheelchair height to create and even playing field among the athletes.[7][8] While the 1968 Paralympics in Tel Aviv were not as developed and professional as they are in the present day, Australian paraplegic athletes involved have largely discussed the high competitiveness of making the Australian team and the Tel Aviv Games themselves.[8][5]

Jeff Simmonds on tarmac before departing for Tel Aviv 1968

Paraplegic sport in Australia was, like the United Kingdom, an aspect of rehabilitation from spinal injury for many patients, but the growing international status of sport for the disabled helped in the creation of initiatives in Australia.[15] Interstate competitions began in Australia in 1959 and sporting organisations for disabled athletes were prevalent and still growing in each state.[16][17][11][15][8] These organisations as well as Sir George Bedbrook, a surgeon and director of the spinal unit of the Royal Perth Hospital, and others played a vital role in the rise of organised, competitive disabled sport and the Paralympic movement in Australia.[18][16]

A key component of the Paralympic Games is that it is always aimed to closely follow the Olympics and to be hosted by the same nation as the Olympic Games.[9][7] However, there have been some exceptions to this due to various reasons and the 1968 Paralympic Games is one such exception. The competition was set to be held in Mexico City as the Olympic Games were that year and everything seemed to be progressing well until an American team led by Ben Lipton was to travel to Mexico City to assess the altitude impact on the disabled athletes as there were some concerns.[2][9][7] Upon arranging their travel, the president of the rehabilitation center in Mexico sent a letter stating that due to financial constraints and accessibility issues with the facilities, Mexico city would not be able to host the Paralympic Games in 1968.[19][2][14][9][7] This rejection of the Olympic host city was a blow to the agenda of Guttman as well as those involved in promoting sport internationally for the disabled but applications to be the host city were put forward by Buenos Aires, New York, and Tel Aviv.[20] Guttman selected Tel Aviv, Israel as the host city and the President of the Israeli Stoke Mandeville Committee Arieh Fink, stated that the Israeli Government was most enthusiastic about being selected, given that it coincided with the twentieth anniversary of the State of Israel, as well as the twentieth anniversary of the Stoke Mandeville Games.[2][6][7][4][20] Israel is a country with a long tradition of wheelchair sports due to their large number of spinal injuries from war, they had the resources to host a Paralympic Games and were, at the time, a powerful country of the International Olympic Committee.[2][5][4]

The competing athletes in the Games underwent selection by first being nominated to be eligible for selection by their state association and then being selected by coaches based on performance in the National Paraplegic Games held in 1968 before the Paralympic Games.[8] This selection process was seen by some, as slightly flawed, yet other athletes had no issue with this process. Competitiveness to be selected to represent Australia at the Paralympic Games in 1968 was very high and athletes participated in numerous events because they were skillful enough but primarily to increase their chances of being selected.[18][13][8] All of the athletes listed above competed and performed well enough in their events to be selected to represent Australia in the Paralympic Games in 1968.

Archery 1968 Paralympic Games Tel Aviv

Australia represented by:[1][23]

Men – Kevin Bawden, Felix Blums, Alan Conn, Roy Fowler, Alan McLucas, Tony South

Women – Pam Smith, Di Workman ^[8]

Archery was a strength of Australian athletes as three podium finishes were achieved in this sport, which saw a large number of athletes competing in these events.[23][8][11] Tony South took the gold medal in the Men's Ablion Round Open event of his strongest sport by a mere 2 points to his Dutch opponent but was not able to beat him in the FITA Round Open and came in second.[8][1] Whereas, Alan McLucas missed out of a gold medal in the Men's St. Nicholas Round Cervical by just 4 points winning the silver medal.[1] Alan Conn finished with a gold medal in the Men's Columbia Round Open, setting a new world record in the process with a score of 618.[1] While the women did not have as many competitors, both Workman and Smith placed in the middle of their event rankings.[1]

Australia was represented by:[1]

Men – Peter Burt, Brian Chambers, Kevin Coombs, Kevin Cunningham, Gary Hooper, John Martin, Bill Mather-Brown, Robert McIntyre, Alan McLucas, Bruno Moretti, Kevin Munro, Frank Ponta, Vic Renalson, Noel Simmons

Women – Lorraine Dodd, Daphne Hilton, Cherrie Loydstrom, Marion O'Brien, Elaine Schreiber, Pam Smith, Di Workman ^[8]

Athletics was Australia's most successful pursuit in Tel Aviv, finishing with a total of 19 medals made up of 7 gold, 7 silver, and 5 bronze.[8][1] Australia had multiple competitors and took part in a large portion of the events that were available, as is seen in the table below.

Although Athletics wasn't her primary pursuit, Lorraine Dodd still managed to find herself on the medal podium twice, earning a silver medal in the Women's Slalom A event, and a bronze in the Women's 60m Wheelchair dash A.[24][1][8] Dodd actually finished with the same time as the silver medallist in the 60m dash, but upon review was awarded the bronze.^[9] Gary Hooper competed in eight different track and field disciplines, earning a medal in three.[1] There was a close battle between Australia's Gary Hooper and Bruno Moretti in the Men's 100m Wheelchair Dash. Hooper finished second to compatriot Bruno Moretti in the heats but Hooper came through to finish first in the final ahead of Moretti by 0.40 seconds and took home the gold medal.[1]

The Men's 4x40m Open Relay team was made up of Gary Hooper, Martin, Moretti and Munro who won a silver medal, only being beaten by a world record time set by the United States (results). The Australians were faster in the final than in the heat but this was not enough to surpass the American team.[1] The Women's 4x40m Open Relay team was Dodd, Hilton, Loydstrom and Shreiber were not as successful as the men and finished in 8th place just behind the French team.[1]

Australia's men also saw some success in the slalom events, finishing one-two in the A and B events.[1] Moretti and Mather-Brown topped their events comfortably in the A event and Martin narrowly beat Suga from Japan in the B event.[8][1]

Australia had a large amount of competition in the field events, for example the Men's Shot Put C event saw 51 athletes compete, but Australia were still able to achieve a few podium finishes and come very close to those in front in of them other events.[1] Renalson dominated the throwing events, improving on all of his qualification distances in the Men's Shot Put A, men's Discus A, men's Javelin A and Men's Club Throw A earning him two gold medals, one bronze and one silver.[1] Australia had many competitors in the Precision Javelin event but were unable to finish the event with a medal. The Pentathlon event at the 1968 games was a mixture of Archery, Athletics and Swimming and Australia had five athletes compete in the men's and women's event overall. Frank Ponta did not place as well as he hoped in his favourite event finishing 7th in the Men's Pentathlon Complete event, but Daphne Hilton took the bronze medal in the Women's Pentathlon Special Class.[8][1]

Australia represented by:[1]

Men – Kevin Bawden, Alan Conn, Roy Fowler, Tony South ^[8]

Australia's only competitors in the dartchery competed in the Mixed Pairs event, with Kevin Bawden and Roy Fowler being paired up, and the two gold medalists from the individual events, Tony South and Alan Conn, teaming up.[1]

South and Conn made their way to the gold-medal match against the US team of Geissinger and Kelderhouse, with the Australian pair coming up short and taking home the silver medal. The Australian team of Bawden and Fowler made it to the round of 16 where they were overcome by the eventual gold medal-winning US pair.^[9]

Lawn bowls was a sport that was first included in the Paralympics in 1968. The events that took place were the Men's Singles, men's Pairs, women's Singles and Women's Pairs. According to official records of the games, there were no Australian athletes that competed in the Lawn Bowls competition in Tel Aviv.[2][7][1]

Australia represented by:

Men – John Beattie, John Newton^{[6] [8]}

John Newton finished with a bronze medal after losing his semifinal to eventual gold medallist, Great Britain's Michael Shelton.^[9]

Men's Tournament open was the only Snooker event at the Games. John Newton advanced to the semifinals after defeating Italy's Gambatesa but lost the semifinal to Michael Shelton from Great Britain, who went on to win the gold medal, to finish equal third with Ruschioni from Italy.[1][21]

Australia represented by:[1]

Men – Felix Blums, Brian Chambers, Gary Hooper, Bill Mather-Brown, Alan McLucas, Frank Ponta, Jeff Simmonds, Don Watts

Women – Lorraine Dodd, Elizabeth Edmondson, Daphne Hilton, Sally Lamb, Cherrie Loydstrom ^[8]

Australia's females dominated the pool, with Lorraine Dodd and Elizabeth Edmondson setting five World Records between them at the Games.[17][1] Dodd set three World Records on her way to three gold medals in the 25m Backstroke, Breaststroke, and Freestyle Class 2 Complete events.[17][1] Edmondson's two gold medals also came in world-record time; one in the Freestyle 50m Class 4 Incomplete and the other in the Freestyle 100m Open event.^[9]

Daphne Hilton followed up her pair of bronze medals in Athletics with a silver medal in the Class 5 (cauda equina) 50m Freestyle event, demonstrating a lot of range with her athletic abilities.^[9]

Edmondson finished the Backstroke 50m C4 Incomplete event with a silver medal despite her final time being slower than her qualifying time.[1] Chambers ranked first in his heat of the same event but was not fast enough to make the final.[1] While America and Great Britain significantly surpassed every other nation in the Swimming medal tally, Australia took away 11 medals from the Swimming events alone, which demonstrated a very successful event for the Australian team at the 1968 Paralympic Games.[14][1][17]

Australia represented by:[1]

Men – Kevin Bawden, Alan Conn, Kevin Coombs, John Martin, Bill Mather-Brown, Alan McLucas, Bruno Moretti, Jimmy Newton, Tony South, Don Watts

Women – Lorraine Dodd, Daphne Hilton, Cherrie Ireland, Marion O'Brien, Elaine Schreiber, Pam Smith ^[8]

Australia, had many athletes compete in Table Tennis in Tel Aviv, as did most nations that attended the Games.[1] Both men's doubles teams were beaten and eliminated in the first round of the Men's Doubles B and C events but the Women's Doubles C team of Marion O'Brien and Elaine Schreiber won their way to the gold-medal match where they played Great Britain's pairing of Bryant and Carol Barnard, eventually going down and finishing in second place and the silver medal.[1] The next highest ranking achieved by Australia was Martin, Kraft and O’brien all making the quarterfinal of their respective events.[1] Great Britain, America and Germany all proved to be the most challenging teams for Australia as they topped the medal tally in Table Tennis along with the host nation, Israel.[8][1]

Australia represented by:[1]

Men – Gary Hooper, Vic Renalson ^[8]

The Weightlifting event had four different weight classifications but the only lift discipline was the Bench Press lift.[7] Vic Renalson picked up his third gold medal of the Games in the Heavyweight lifting event, with a lift of 200 kg not being challenged by the other competitors.^[9] Hooper just missed out on receiving a medal in the Lightweight event, equaling the weight lifted by Jamaica but placing fourth.[1]

Australia represented by:[1]

Men – Kevin Bawden, Peter Burt, Brian Chambers, Kevin Cunningham, Kevin Coombs, Bill Mather-Brown, John Martin, Robert McIntyre, Bruno Moretti, Frank Ponta, Noel Simmons, Don Watts

Basketball at the 1968 Paralympic Games was played outdoors on a polished brick court late in the afternoon under lights.[5][7][2] Basketball was an important event to the Australian male Basketball athletes but they did not place as well as they wanted, coming in 5th overall.[18][4][1] In Pool D, Australia lost to both Italy and Argentina and as a result, Australia did not proceed to the medal rounds.[1] A classification event was played, in which the Australian team won against both Germany and Sweden and were placed 5th overall.^{[8] [11]} The Basketball final in Tel Aviv was said to be the highlight of the 1968 Paralympic Games in which America played the home team of Israel.[4][2] While Australia did not compete in this match, the team has described what an insight this was and that they took a lot from the game and the athletes in that final.[8]

Event: Men and new women comp that we did not have a team for

Australia represented by:[1]

Men – Kevin Bawden, Gary Hooper, John Martin, Jimmy Newton

Women – Daphne Hilton, Pam Smith, Di Workman ^[8]

Australia had multiple participants in the Wheelchair Fencing events in Tel Aviv, however, this was not their strongest event.[8][1] Hooper was successful in all five matches in his pool in the Men's Foil Individual event but did not progress past the second round of games as he was defeated by France, Italy and Great Britain.[1] Hilton was the only other athlete to progress into round two and she placed 5th in the Women's Foil Individual event.[1]

In June 2013, four South Australia members of the 1968 Australian Paralympics Team relived memories as part of the Australian Paralympic Committee history project.[26] Archer Pam McLeod née Smith and wheelchair sprinter Kevin Munro were joined by Libby Kosmala and team nurse Janet Tyler. Kosmala who went on to compete in a record eleven Paralympic Games commented that: In those days athletes had to use their everyday chair to compete in, now they've got specialized chairs for all sports from sprinting to basketball to shooting.[26] The 1968 Games were the first Games where South Australia athletes had been selected for Australia.[26] `