Australia at the 1980 Summer Paralympics

The 1980 Arnhem Paralympic Games opened on Saturday the 21st of June at 2pm at the Olympic Stadium.[2] During the planning of the Games, a heated debate raged around whether the South African team should be allowed to participate. While the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation's Executive Committee showed support for the inclusion of the South African team, numerous sport organisations in the Netherlands and the Dutch Parliament believed they should not be allowed to compete. If the South African team were permitted to compete, the Dutch Parliament, who ultimately had the final say, could prohibit the Games from taking place in Arnhem at all. Therefore, it was eventually decided to exclude the South African team from the Games. [3] Despite the controversy, Australia did not boycott the Paralympic Games, like many did the Moscow Olympic Games.

Before departing for Arnhem, the Prime Minister at the time, Malcolm Fraser spoke to the Australian Paralympic team, congratulating them on behalf of the Government and all Australian's and wishing them good luck and success. Fraser also remarked that, “These Olympics are the culmination of many years of dedication and hard work”. This was reported in the national newspaper, ‘The Australia,’ along with his comment that “I encourage all disabled people to follow your example and take an active part in sporting activities”.[4]

While it appeared that the Australian Paralympians were supported in their endeavours, there was no established governing body for Paralympians at the time. This meant that all competitors needed to raise their own funds in order to pay for their travels. One particular wheelchair athlete (Fred Pointer) travel from Melbourne(MCG) to Sydney(SCG) in his wheelchair in a bid to raise money. Pointer's dedication and determination saw him raise funds for himself along with other donations going into the paraplegic sports club in Melbourne. All this was done in a wheelchair that he designed himself, the wheelchair he subsequently competed in at the 1980 Arnhem Paralympics.[5]

It was decided that the mascot for the Arnhem Paralympics would be a Squirrel. This was done in a show of admiration for disabled men and women, as squirrels have many hard nuts to crack in life, just as those suffering from disabilities do. As a result of the Arnhem Paralympic Games, the International Fund Sport Disabled (IFSD) was born, which provided funding from major disabled sporting events. A great surplus of funds was raised for the IFSD during the games through ‘Telebingo.’ [2]

1980 Australian Amputee Team - Arnhem, Holland

Overall, Australia participated in three out of the four classes, and won medals in six out of the 10 different sports they competed in. Despite Australian Amputee athletes not having a nation body, the previous experience at the Torontolympiad and at the Sydney FESPIC Games provided the motivation for individual athletes to attend Arnhem. No selection trials were held, and the eleven athletes who competed had to cover the expenses of getting to and from the Games themselves.[6] Eleven vision-impaired athletes from Australia also competed in Arnhem. These athletes however, had the advantaged of the Australian Blind Sports Federation, a national body that was formed the same year (1980). This organisation serves to provide support for competitive athletes through encouragement, raising funds, assisting in preparation and helping them get there.

The biggest contingent of Australians at Arnhem was athletes with a spinal cord injury. They also experienced the most success, winning a total of 34 medals, which is over half of Australia's total. Even though the 1980 Paralympic Games were the first time that cerebral palsy athletes joined spinal cord injury, blind and amputees athletes at the Paralympics, Australia did not have a national organisation and did not send any cerebral palsy athletes.

Kevin Coombs was given the honour of captaining the entire Australian Team. In his biography, Coombs writes: “This was the biggest honour I had received. I had been an Australian team captain once before in 1974 at the Commonwealth Games in New Zealand, but this was the Paralympics.”[7] These Games were Coombs' fourth, and he also captained the Australian Wheelchair Basketball team.

1980 Amputee Team - Holland 2

Notable Australian performances were:

In amputee athletes class

• Charmaine Cree - Charmaine won 5 medals in total for her performance in Athletics. She won gold in the Women's High Jump, silver in Women's Long Jump and three bronze medals in the Women's 100m, Women's Discus throw and Women's Javelin throw.[1]
• Wayne Lanham - Wayne finished with two medals in athletics. He won a gold medal in the Men's 100m and a silver medal in the Men's 400m.[1]
• Gary Gudgeon - Gary acquired four medals in total, all for swimming. He came away with a gold medal in the Men's 400m Freestyle, two silver medals in the Men's 100m backstroke and the Men's 4x50m individual medley, along with a bronze medal in the Men's 100m Freestyle.[1]

In vision impaired athletes:

• Gloria Pascoe - Gloria secured a gold medal in the Women's Singles for Lawn Bowls. This was the only gold medal to be won in lawn bowls for blind athletes.[1]
• Carolyn Connors - Carolyn came away with three medals, all won in swimming. She won two silver medals in the Women's 100m Butterfly and Women's 100m Freestyle, and a bronze medal in the Women's 4x50m Individual Medley.[1]

In spinal cord injury athletes class:

• Wayne Patchett - Wayne victoriously won three gold medals in throwing. He placed first in Men's Club Throw, Men's Discus Throw and Men's Shot Put.[1]
• Eric Russell - Eric acquired three medals in athletics. He won a gold medal in Men's Shot Put and two bronze medals in Men's Discus Throw and Men's Pentathlon.[1]
• Michael Nugent - Michael successfully won two medals for his athletics performance. He won a gold medal in the Men's 200m, along with a silver medal in the Men's 400m. In conjunction with his gold medal winning performance in the Men's 200m, Michael managed to set the world record, making his performance the best individual performance by an Australian wheelchair athlete at the 1980 Games.[8]
• Barbara Caspers - Competing in women's shooting, Barbara managed to win three medals overall. She won a gold medal in Mixed air rifle kneeling, a silver medal in Mixed air rifle 3 positions and a bronze medal in Mixed air rifle standing.[1]
• Elizabeth Kosmala - Elizabeth competed in multiple shooting events and came away with three medals. She won a gold medal in Mixed air rifle prone and two silver medals in Mixed air rifle 3 positions and Mixed air rifle kneeling.[1]
• Overall the Australian athletics team won 34 medals out of the 55 medals won by Australia.[1]

• Australia at the Paralympics

Several oral histories are available online from Australian athletes who competed at the Games

• Kevin Coombs interviewed by Robin Poke in the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral history project, National Library of Australia, 2009
• Libby Kosmala interviewed by Nikki Henningham in the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral history project, National Library of Australia, 2011
• Paul Bird interviewed by Ian Jobling in the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral history project, National Library of Australia, 2011

• Documentary of the 1980 Arnhem Paralympics, showing Australian athletes competing held by National Film and Sound Archive