Great Britain at the 1968 Summer Paralympics
Encyclopedia
Great Britain was one of twenty-eight nations to send athletes to the 1968 Summer Paralympics
in Tel Aviv
, Israel
from November 4 to 13, 1968. The team finished second in the medal table
and won sixty-nine medals: twenty-nine gold, twenty silver and twenty bronze. Athletes from the whole United Kingdom
, including Northern Ireland
, were able to compete for the team. Seventy-five British athletes took part in the Games; fifty-one men and twenty-four women.
, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy
; wheelchair
athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories; visual impairment
, including blindness
; Les autres, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example dwarfism
or multiple sclerosis
. Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent on the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing.
in the first round but lost in the second round to the Swiss
pair; Robertson and Todd reached the third round where they lost to Italians Francesco Deiana and Raimondo Longhi.
event was contested at the Games, the men's open event. Keaton was eliminated in the first round by Jimmy Gibson of Ireland
. Michael Shelton
had wins over Goll, of Austria, and Newton from Australia to earn a place in the final against Gibson. Shelton defeated Gibson to take gold and the Irishman won the silver medal.
); Britton, a gold, silver and bronze in men's class 2 incomplete events; Ellis, two golds and a silver in men's class 2 complete; Gibbs who won gold in the women's 3×25 m individual medley open and bronze in the 100 m freestyle open; Thornton who took a gold, silver and bronze in men's class 3 complete events; and West who won backstroke silver and freestyle bronze for men's class 1 complete events. Ingrams won gold in the women's 25 m backstroke class 1 incomplete in a world record time; White and Rosaleen Gallagher of Ireland won the silver and bronze medals in the event.
events and won ten medals; three gold, 4 silver and four bronze. In the women's doubles C event Bryant and Barnard won the gold medal after beating pairs from the United States, Jamaica, Belgium and Australia.
1968 Summer Paralympics
The 1968 Summer Paralympics were the third Paralympic Games to be held. Organised under the guidance of the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation , they were known as the 17th International Stoke Mandeville Games at the time...
in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
from November 4 to 13, 1968. The team finished second in the medal table
1968 Summer Paralympics medal table
The 1968 Summer Paralympics was an international multi-sport event held in Tel Aviv, Israel, from November 4 to 13, 1968, in which athletes with physical disabilities competed against one another...
and won sixty-nine medals: twenty-nine gold, twenty silver and twenty bronze. Athletes from the whole United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, including Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, were able to compete for the team. Seventy-five British athletes took part in the Games; fifty-one men and twenty-four women.
Disability classifications
The Paralympics groups athletes' disabilities into one of five disability categories; amputationAmputation
Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma, prolonged constriction, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for...
, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development, chiefly in the various areas of body movement....
; wheelchair
Wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...
athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories; visual impairment
Visual impairment
Visual impairment is vision loss to such a degree as to qualify as an additional support need through a significant limitation of visual capability resulting from either disease, trauma, or congenital or degenerative conditions that cannot be corrected by conventional means, such as refractive...
, including blindness
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
; Les autres, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example dwarfism
Dwarfism
Dwarfism is short stature resulting from a medical condition. It is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches , although this definition is problematic because short stature in itself is not a disorder....
or multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
. Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent on the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing.
Dartchery
The only dartchery event at the Games was the mixed pairs event which took a knockout format. Two British pairs entered the competition: Nicholson and Taylor beat a team from JamaicaJamaica at the 1968 Summer Paralympics
Jamaica was one of twenty-eight nations that competed at the 1968 Summer Paralympics in Tel Aviv, Israel from November 4 to 13, 1968. The team finished fourteenth in the medal table and won a total of five medals; three gold, one silver and one bronze...
in the first round but lost in the second round to the Swiss
Switzerland at the 1968 Summer Paralympics
Switzerland competed at the 1968 Summer Paralympics in Tel Aviv, Israel from November 4 to 13, 1968. The team finished twenty-second in the medal table and won a total of eight medals; two silver and six bronze. Thirty-four Swiss athletes took part; thirty-two men and two women.-References:...
pair; Robertson and Todd reached the third round where they lost to Italians Francesco Deiana and Raimondo Longhi.
Snooker
One snookerSnooker
Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...
event was contested at the Games, the men's open event. Keaton was eliminated in the first round by Jimmy Gibson of Ireland
Ireland at the 1968 Summer Paralympics
Ireland was one of twenty-eight nations to send a delegation to compete at the 1968 Summer Paralympics in Tel Aviv, Israel from November 4 to 13, 1968. The team finished nineteenth in the medal table and won a total of nine medals; four silver and five bronze...
. Michael Shelton
Michael Shelton
Michael Shelton is a British sportsman who competed at the Summer Paralympic Games five times between 1960 and 1976. He won six Paralympic medals, four gold, a silver and a bronze.-References:...
had wins over Goll, of Austria, and Newton from Australia to earn a place in the final against Gibson. Shelton defeated Gibson to take gold and the Irishman won the silver medal.
Swimming
Twenty-nine British swimmers competed at the Games winning twenty-eight medals: thiteen gold, seven silver and eight bronze. Forder won three gold medals in women's 50 m class 3 complete events, finishing first in the backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. Six other swimmers won multiple medals for Great Britain; Bellamy won two gold medals and a bronze in the women's class 5 (cauda equinaCauda equina
The cauda equina is a structure within the lower end of the spinal column of most vertebrates, that consists of nerve roots and rootlets from above...
); Britton, a gold, silver and bronze in men's class 2 incomplete events; Ellis, two golds and a silver in men's class 2 complete; Gibbs who won gold in the women's 3×25 m individual medley open and bronze in the 100 m freestyle open; Thornton who took a gold, silver and bronze in men's class 3 complete events; and West who won backstroke silver and freestyle bronze for men's class 1 complete events. Ingrams won gold in the women's 25 m backstroke class 1 incomplete in a world record time; White and Rosaleen Gallagher of Ireland won the silver and bronze medals in the event.
Table tennis
Twenty five British players entered table tennisTable tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
events and won ten medals; three gold, 4 silver and four bronze. In the women's doubles C event Bryant and Barnard won the gold medal after beating pairs from the United States, Jamaica, Belgium and Australia.