Australia at the 1968 Summer Paralympics

Background

Following Mexico City's withdrawal as hosts of the Games in 1965, Buenos Aires, New York, and Tel Aviv all put forth offers to host the 1968 Games. Tel Aviv, Israel was eventually decided upon as the host city, with the President of the Israeli Stoke Mandeville Committee Arieh Fink, stating 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. This also signified the first time in Paralympic history that the Games were not held alongside the Summer Olympics in the same host city.

Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony for the 1968 Paralympic Games took place on November 4, 1968 in the University of Jerusalem Stadium. Twenty thousand spectators were present at the ceremony, which included an introduction and lap of honour of competing athletes, a military band performance, and folk dancing accompanied by a girls choir. Deputy Prime Minister of Israel Yigal Allon delivered the welcome message, with Arieh Fink, and Founder and President of the Games, Sir Ludwig Guttmann also giving speeches. Giving the oath on behalf of the athletes was Israeli's Zvi Ben-Zvi, one of the pioneering Israeli Paralympians during the 1954 Stoke Mandeville Games, having becoming a paraplegic serving in the Arab-Israeli War.

Team

The team comprised 32 members – 23 men and 9 women:
Women - Pam Smith, Di Workman, Cherrie Ireland (née Loydstrom), Elaine Schreiber, Marion O'Brien, Daphne Hilton (née Ceeney), Elizabeth Edmondson, Lorraine Dodd, Sally Lamb
Men - Kevin Coombs, Kevin Cunningham, Bill Mather-Brown, Bruno Moretti, Frank Ponta, Gary Hooper, Vic Renalson, Kevin Munro, Roy Fowler, Kevin Bawden, Brian Chambers, Robert McIntyre, John Beattie, Peter Burt, Allan McLucas, Tony South, Alan Conn, Felix Blums, Jeff Simmonds, Don Watts, John Newton, John Martin, Miko Taminin

The athletes were supported by a large, dedicated support staff, a mixture of experienced practitioners and fresh faces:
– Dr John Yeo (Team Leader), George Bedbrook(Senior Medical Officer), John 'Johnno' Johnston (Team Manager), Elizabeth Kosmala (née Richards)(Assistant Secretary), Mr Ashley Coops (Secretary), Mrs Aileen Coops (Attendant), Mr E. Kyle (Assistant Medical Officer), Miss D. Newton (Physiotherapist), Jan Hooper (Nurse), Kevin Betts (Attendant), M. Wilson (Attendant), William 'Bill' Gibbs (Sports Instructor), J. McCafferty (Attendant), Miss Janet Tyler (nurse), Miss N. Joyce (nurse), J. Hooper (Assistant Sports instructor, Baggage Marshall) and S.C. Chase (Assistant Baggage Marshall).

Kevin Coombs commented that the Australian team didn't have the sponsorship or training camps that other countries were providing their athletes. He noted that due to inadequate funding to be eligible athletes had to participate in several sports. Coombs also noted that the accommodation was very rough with the team being housed in an undercover car park, with one toilet and shower for 32 men and camp stretches with straw mattresses.

Archery

Australia represented by:
Men – Kevin Bawden, Felix Blums, Alan Conn, Roy Fowler, Allan McLucas, Tony South
Women – Pam Smith, Di Workman

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. Fellow Australian Kevin Bawden finished 20th in the event.

Tony South took home a gold medal in the Men's Albion Round Open with a score of 800, beating out his Dutch opponent by two points. South narrowly missed out on another gold medal in the FITA Round event, this time finishing second to his Dutch competitor.

Australia's female archers didn't fare so well, with neither athlete challenging for a spot on the podium.

Athletics

Australia represented by:
Men – Peter Burt, Brian Chambers, Kevin Coombs, Kevin Cunningham, Gary Hooper, John Martin, Bill Mather-Brown, Robert McIntyre, Allan McLucas, Bruno Moretti, Kevin Munro, Frank Ponta, Vic Renalson, Noel Simmons
Women – Lorraine Dodd, Daphne Hilton, Cherrie Ireland, Marion O'Brien, Elaine Schreiber, Pam Smith, Di Workman

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.

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. Dodd actually finished with the same time as the silver medallist in the 60m dash, but upon review was awarded the bronze.

Daphne Hilton finished with a pair of bronze medals after coming third in the Women's 60m Wheelchair Dash C division in a time of 18.1 seconds, and a third-place finish in the Women's Pentahlon.

Gary Hooper competed in eight different track and field disciplines, earning a medal in three. Having finished second in the heats of the Men's 100m Wheelchair Dash A to compatriot Bruno Moretti, Hooper came through to finish first in the final ahead of Moretti. Hooper and Moretti were also part of the 4x40m relay team that won a silver medal, only being beaten by a world record time set by the United States. Hooper's other silver medal finish came in the Men's Shotput B.

Australia's men also saw some success in the slalom events, finishing one-two in both the A and B division slalom events. In the A division, Moretti beat out Bill Mather-Brown for the gold medal, while Robert McIntyre finished in the gold medal position two seconds ahead of John Martin.

Dartchery

Australia represented by:
Men – Kevin Bawden, Alan Conn, Roy Fowler, Tony South

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 medallists from the individual events, Tony South and Alan Conn, teaming up. 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.

Lawn Bowls

Men – Kevin Bawden, Don Watts, John Martin, John Newton

Snooker

Australia represented by:
Men – John Beattie, John Newton

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

Swimming

Australia represented by:
Men – Felix Blums, Brian Chambers, Gary Hooper, Bill Mather-Brown, Allan McLucas, Frank Ponta, Jeff Simmonds, Don Watts
Women – Lorraine Dodd, Elizabeth Edmondson, Daphne Hilton, Sally Lamb, Cherrie Ireland,

Australia's females dominated the pool, with Lorraine Dodd and Elizabeth Edmondson setting five World Records between them at the Games. Dodd set three World Records on her way to three gold medals in the 25m Backstroke, Breaststroke, and Freestyle Class 2 complete events. Edmondson's two gold medals also came in World Record time; one in the 50m Class 4 incomplete Freestyle with a time of 44.1 seconds, and the other in the 100m Open Freestyle event, finishing in a time of 1 minute 33 seconds.

Daphne Hilton followed up her pair of bronze medals in Athletics with a silver medal in the Class 5 (cauda equina) 50m Freestyle event.

Table tennis

Australia represented by:
Men – Kevin Bawden, Alan Conn, Kevin Coombs, John Martin, Bill Mather-Brown, Allan McLucas, Bruno Moretti, Jimmy Newton, Tony South, Don Watts
Women – Lorraine Dodd, Daphne Hilton, Cherrie Ireland, Marion O'Brien, Elaine Schreiber, Pam Smith

The Australian pair 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.

Weightlifting

Australia represented by:
Men – Gary Hooper, Vic Renalson

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.

Wheelchair basketball

Australia represented by:
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

In Pool D, Australia played Italy and Argentina, losing to the former 37 by 23, and to the latter, 24 to 20. As a result, Australia did not proceed to the medal rounds, but played Sweden in a classification event, in which the Australian team beat Sweden 43–22, and were placed ninth overall.

Wheelchair fencing

Australia represented by:
Men – Kevin Bawden, Gary Hooper, John Martin, Jimmy Newton
Women – Daphne Hilton, Pam Smith, Di Workman

Closing Ceremony

The closing ceremony took place at the Tel Aviv Fair Grounds on November 13. Deputy Prime Minister Yigal Allon and the Mayor of Tel Aviv, Mordechai Namir, were both in attendance for the ceremony to see trophies presented to athletes, as well as a display by dancers from three local kibbutzim. Allon thanked participants for their involvement and contribution to world unity, and declared the Games closed.

Post Games

On the way home, the team spent two days in Bangkok, followed by three days in Singapore. While in Singapore, the Australian team demonstrated sport to local paraplegics.

Reunions

In June 2013, four South Australia members of the 1968 Australian Paralympics Team relived memories as part of the Australian Paralympic Committee history project. 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. The 1968 Games were the first Games where South Australia athletes had been selected for Australia. `