Australia at the 1980 Summer Paralympics

Australia at the Paralympic Games
Flag of Australia IPC code  AUS NPC Australian Paralympic Committee
At the 1980 Summer Paralympics in Arnhem
Competitors
Medals Rank: 14	Gold 12	Silver 21	Bronze 22	Total 55
Paralympic history (summary)
Summer Games
1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016
Winter Games
1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014

Australia competed at the 1980 Summer Paralympics in Arnhem, Netherlands. It was the 6th Summer Paralympic game in which Australia competed. Australia won 55 medals – 12 gold, 21 silver and 22 bronze medals. Australia competed in 10 sports and won medals in 6 sports. It finished 14th on the gold medal table and 9th on the total medal table.

Notable Australian performances were:

• In amputee athletes class:
  • Charmaine Cree winning 5 medals in athletics – 1 gold medal, 1 silver medal and 3 bronze medals
  • Wayne Lanham winning 2 medals in athletics – 1 gold and 1 silver medal
  • Gary Gudgeon winning 4 medals in swimming – 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze medal
• In vision impaired athletes:
  • Gloria Pascoe winning the only gold medal for blind athletes in lawn bowls.
  • Carolyn Connors secured two silver medals and a bronze medal in swimming
  • Bruce Sandilands won a bronze medal in athletics.
• In spinal cord injury athletes class:
  • Wayne Patchett, an Australian thrower, winning 3 gold medals
  • Eric Russell won a gold medal and two bronze medals
  • Michael Nugent won the silver medal in the 400metres, but his most notable performance was the 200metres event when he set a world record that was subsequently as the best individual performance by an Australian wheelchair athlete in 1980
  • Female shooters Barbara Caspers and Elizabeth Kosmala winning 6 medals between them including 2 gold medals
• Australian athletics team winning 34 medals out of the 55 medals won by Australia.

Background

"I encourage all disabled people to follow your example and take an active part in sporting activities" This was the line delivered to the Paralympic team by the Prime minister at the time, Mr Malcolm Fraser. He remarked that "These Olympics are the culmination of many years of dedication and hard work." He congratulated the team "on behalf of the Government and all Australians" and wished them good luck and success. He spoke to the team on June 18 1980 and this was reported on in the national newspaper ‘The Australian’.

To compete in the 1980 Paralympics in Arnhem, the athletes were required to raise their own funding for travel expenses as there was no governing body in Australia at the time. One particular wheelchair athlete (Fred Pointer) was reported to be travelling from Melbourne to Sydney in his wheelchair to raise funds. He completed this in a wheelchair he designed his self.

Team

File:1980 Amputee Team - Holland.jpg

287x287px

Australia competed in 3 classes of 4 in 10 sports and won medals in six sports. Amputee athletes in Australia did not have a national body but the previous experiences at the Torontolympiad and at the Sydney FESPIC Games provided the impetus for individual athletes to attend Arnhem. There were no selection trials and the 11 athletes who competed had to cover their cost to get and from the Games. There were also eleven vision-impaired athletes from Australia who attended Arnhem. These athletes had the advantage of a national organisation, formed in the same year as the Arnhem Games, which raised funds and assisted in preparation in participation. The biggest contingent of Australians at Arnhem was athletes with a spinal cord injury and they experienced the most success winning a total of 34 medals. 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.

The team was led by Coach Terry Keneghan.

Medalists

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	State	Disability
Gold	Wayne Lanham	Athletics	Men’s 100 m F	NSW	Amputee
Gold	Michael Nugent	Athletics	Men’s 200 m 3	QLD	Wheelchair
Gold	Wayne Patchett	Athletics	Men’s Club throw 1A	NSW	Wheelchair
Gold	Wayne Patchett	Athletics	Men’s Discus throw 1A	NSW	Wheelchair
Gold	Wayne Patchett	Athletics	Men’s Shot put 1A	NSW	Wheelchair
Gold	Murray Todd	Athletics	Men’s Shot put 2	SA	Wheelchair
Gold	Eric Russell	Athletics	Men’s Shot put 3	QLD	Wheelchair
Gold	Charmaine Cree	Athletics	Women’s High jump C	NSW	Amputee
Gold	Gloria Pascoe	Lawn bowls	Women's Singles B	?	Wheelchair
Gold	Barbara Caspers	Shooting	Mixed air rifle kneeling 1A-1C	SA	Wheelchair
Gold	Elizabeth Kosmala	Shooting	Mixed air rifle prone 2-5	SA	Wheelchair
Gold	Gary Gudgeon	Swimming	Men’s 400 m freestyle C-D	NSW	Amputee
Silver	Michael Nugent	Athletics	Men’s 400 m 3	QLD	Wheelchair
Silver	Ian Trewhella	Archery	Men's Short Metric Round tetraplegic	ACT	Wheelchair
Silver	Wayne Lanham	Athletics	Men’s 400 m F	NSW	Amputee
Silver	Erich Hubel	Athletics	Men’s 800 m 5	VIC	Wheelchair
Silver	Ian Trewhella	Athletics	Men’s Pentathlon 1B	ACT	Wheelchair
Silver	Sue Hobbs	Athletics	Women’s 60 m 5	SA	Wheelchair
Silver	Sue Hobbs	Athletics	Women’s 800 m 5	SA	Wheelchair
Silver	Sue Hobbs	Athletics	Women’s 1500 m 5	SA	Wheelchair
Silver	Charmaine Cree	Athletics	Women’s Long jump C	NSW	Amputee
Silver	Julie Russell	Athletics	Women’s Pentathlon 3	SA	Wheelchair
Silver	Barbara Caspers	Shooting	Mixed air rifle 3 positions 1A-1C	SA	Wheelchair
Silver	Elizabeth Kosmala	Shooting	Mixed air rifle 3 positions 2-5	SA	Wheelchair
Silver	Elizabeth Kosmala	Shooting	Mixed air rifle kneeling 2-5	SA	Wheelchair
Silver	Peter Hill	Swimming	Men’s 25 m backstroke 1C	QLD	Wheelchair
Silver	Peter Hill	Swimming	Men’s 25 m breaststroke 1C	QLD	Wheelchair
Silver	Charlie Tapscott	Swimming	Men’s 50 m backstroke J	TAS	Amputee
Silver	Charlie Tapscott	Swimming	Men’s 50 m freestyle J	TAS	Amputee
Silver	Gary Gudgeon	Swimming	Men’s 100 m backstroke C-D	NSW	Amputee
Silver	Gary Gudgeon	Swimming	Men’s 4x50 m individual medley C	NSW	Amputee
Silver	Carolyn Connors	Swimming	Women’s 100 m butterfly A	NSW	Vision Impairment
Silver	Carolyn Connors	Swimming	Women’s 100 m freestyle A	NSW	Vision Impairment
Bronze	Chris Alp	Athletics	Men’s 100 m 3	VIC	Wheelchair
Bronze	Chris Alp	Athletics	Men’s 200 m 3	VIC	Wheelchair
Bronze	Richard Oliver	Athletics	Men’s 100 m 4	SA	Wheelchair
Bronze	Erich Hubel	Athletics	Men’s 100 m 5	VIC	Wheelchair
Bronze	Erich Hubel	Athletics	Men’s 1500 m 5	VIC	Wheelchair
Bronze	Joe Egan	Athletics	Men’s 100 m C	NSW	Amputee
Bronze	Joe Egan	Athletics	Men’s 400 m C	NSW	Amputee
Bronze	Fred Pointer	Athletics	Men’s 400 m 3	NSW	Wheelchair
Bronze	Fred Pointer	Athletics	Men’s Slalom 3	NSW	Wheelchair
Bronze	Bruce Sandilands	Athletics	Men’s 1500 m B	VIC	Vision Impairment
Bronze	Eric Russell	Athletics	Men’s Discus throw 3	QLD	Wheelchair
Bronze	Eric Russell	Athletics	Men’s Pentathlon 3	QLD	Wheelchair
Bronze	Rene Ahrens	Athletics	Men’s Discus throw 5	QLD	Wheelchair
Bronze	Robert McIntyre	Athletics	Men’s Slalom 5	VIC	Wheelchair
Bronze	Charmaine Cree	Athletics	Women’s 100 m C	NSW	Amputee
Bronze	Charmaine Cree	Athletics	Women’s Discus throw C	NSW	Amputee
Bronze	Charmaine Cree	Athletics	Women’s Javelin throw C	NSW	Amputee
Bronze	Barbara Caspers	Shooting	Mixed air rifle standing 1A-1C	SA	Wheelchair
Bronze	Gary Gudgeon	Swimming	Men’s 100 m freestyle C-D	NSW	Amputee
Bronze	Carolyn Connors	Swimming	Women’s 4x50 m individual medley A	NSW	Vision Impairment
Bronze	Barry Kalms	Weightlifting	Men's lightweight -65 kg amputee	QLD	Amputee
Bronze	Brian McNicholl	Weightlifting	Men's middleweight -75 kg paraplegic	VIC	Wheelchair

Medals by discipline
Discipline				Total
Archery	0	1	0	1
Athletics	8	9	17	34
Darchery	0	0	0	0
Goalball	0	0	0	0
Lawn bowls	1	0	0	1
Wheelchair fencing	0	0	0	0
Shooting	2	3	1	6
Swimming	1	8	2	11
Table tennis	0	0	0	0
Volleyball	0	0	0	0
Weightlifting	0	0	2	2
Wheelchair basketball	0	0	0	0
Total	12	21	22	55

|}

Events

Archery

See also: Archery at the 1980 Summer Paralympics

Australia represented by:
Men - Dennis Kennedy, Eric Klein, Ian Trewhella
Women – Susan Davies
Australia won a silver medal through Ian Trewhella's performance in Men's short metric round tetraplegic.

Athletics

See also: Athletics at the 1980 Summer Paralympics

Australia represented by:
Men – Rene Ahrens, Chris Alp, Rene Andres, Paul Bird, Kevin Bishop, Donald Dann, Joe Egan, Robert Faulkner, Peter Hill, Erich Hubel, Barry Kalms, Wayne Lanham, Peter Marsh, John Martin, Michael McFawn, Robert McIntyre, Jeff McNeil, Brian McNicholl, David McPherson, Kevin Munro, Michael Nugent, Richard Oliver, Wayne Patchett, Fred Pointer, Eric Russell, Bruce Sandilands, John Sheil, Murray Todd, Ian Trewhella, Robert Turner
Women – Charmaine Cree, Sue Hobbs, Julie Langhorne, Pam Nugent, Julie Russell, J. Wilson
Athletics was Australia's most successful team winning 34 medals - 8 gold, 9 silver and 17 bronze medals.

Dartchery

See also: Dartchery at the 1980 Summer Paralympics

Australia represented by:
Men - ?
Women -  ? Australia did not win any medals.

Goalball

See also: Goalball at the 1980 Summer Paralympics

Australia represented by:
Men - Robert Faulkner, David (Dave) Manera, Robert McIntyre, Bruce Sandilands
Australia did not win a medal.

Lawn Bowls

See also: Lawn bowls at the 1980 Summer Paralympics

Australia represented by:
Men – Mike McGuire, N. Hunter, E. Wratten
Women – Gloria Pascoe
Australia won a gold medal through Gloria Pascoe in women's singles B.

Shooting

See also: Shooting at the 1980 Summer Paralympics

Australia represented by:
Women – Barbara Caspers, Elizabeth Kosmala, Gloria Pascoe
Australia won 6 medals - 2 gold medals, 3 silver medals and 1 bronze medal

Swimming

See also: Swimming at the 1980 Summer Paralympics

Australia represented by:
Men - Rene Andres, Paul Bird, Peter Carroll, Gary Gudgeon, Peter Hill, Dennis Kennedy, David (Dave) Manera, David McPherson, Charlie Tapscott
Women – Carolyn Connors, Maureen Pybus
Australia won 11 medals - 1 gold, 8 silver medals and 2 bronze medals. Gary Gudgeon won the gold medal.

Table Tennis

See also: Table tennis at the 1980 Summer Paralympics

Australia represented by:
Men – Donald Dann, Peter Marsh, John Martin, John Sheil, Charlie Tapscott
Australia did not win any medals.

Weightlifting

See also: weightlifting at the 1980 Summer Paralympics

Australia represented by:
Men – Barry Kalms, Brian McNicholl, John Sheil
Australia won 2 bronze medals.

Wheelchair Basketball

See also: Wheelchair basketball at the 1980 Summer Paralympics

Australia represented by:
Men - Rene Ahrens, Robert Augustine, Kevin Bishop, Peter Burt, Kevin Coombs, Len Ettridge, Erich Hubel, Robert McIntyre, Brian McNicholl, Kevin Munro, Richard Oliver, Fred Pointer

Australian results: United States d Australia 87-36 ; Japan d Australia 77-50 ; Spain d Australia 73-56 ; Australia d Denmark 53-33 ; Great Britain d Australia 62-33 ; Germany d Australia 58-49 ; Australia d Brazil 68-44 ; Australia d Denmark 48-37

Australia did not win a medal.

See also

• Australia at the Paralympics

Further reading

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