Jamaica at the 1968 Summer Paralympics
Encyclopedia
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. Eleven athletes represented Jamaica at the Games; seven men and 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.
; Long and Baracatt also lost in the first round to British pair Nicholson and Taylor.
. Jamaica's two swimming medals were both won by Meikle; she won gold in the women's 50 m breaststroke class 4 incomplete
and silver in the 50 m freestyle.
singles events and a pair in the women's doubles. All of the singles players were eliminated at the round of 16 stage. In the women's doubles C event Baracatt and Lewis reached the quarter-finals before losing to Great Britain's
Bryant and Barnard, who went on to win the gold medal.
with a new world record lift of 150 kg.
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 fourteenth 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 a total of five medals; three gold, one silver and one bronze. Eleven athletes represented Jamaica at the Games; seven men and 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.
Archery
Seven Jamaican archers competed at the Games, none won a medal. The best result was achieved by Quida White who placed fifth in the St. Nicholas round for paraplegic women; Lewis finished eleventh in the same event.Athletics
Seven of Jamaica's competitors took part in athletics. Two medals were won by Jamaican athletes, both gold and both in the precision javelin. Excell took the men's title, with a score of 74, and Baracatt the women's, with a score of 78.Dartchery
The only dartchery event at the Games was the mixed pairs event which took a knockout format. Two Jamaican pairs entered; Excell and Hall lost in the first round to the eventual gold medallists from the United StatesUnited States at the 1968 Summer Paralympics
The United States competed at the 1968 Summer Paralympics in Tel Aviv, Israel from November 4 to 13, 1968. The team finished first out of the twenty-eight competing nations in the medal table and won ninety-nine medals: thirty-three gold, twenty-seven silver and thirty-nine bronze...
; Long and Baracatt also lost in the first round to British pair Nicholson and Taylor.
Swimming
Three Jamaican swimmers competed at the Games. Patrick Reid took part in two men's class 2 complete classification events but failed to advance past the heats in either. Octavius Morgan competed in three men's class 4 incomplete classification events and achieved a best finish of fifth in the breaststrokeBreaststroke
The breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on his or her chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to its stability and the ability to keep the head out of the water a large portion of the time. In most swimming classes, beginners learn...
. Jamaica's two swimming medals were both won by Meikle; she won gold in the women's 50 m breaststroke class 4 incomplete
and silver in the 50 m freestyle.
Table tennis
Five Jamaica players took part in 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...
singles events and a pair in the women's doubles. All of the singles players were eliminated at the round of 16 stage. In the women's doubles C event Baracatt and Lewis reached the quarter-finals before losing to Great Britain's
Great Britain at the 1968 Summer Paralympics
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...
Bryant and Barnard, who went on to win the gold medal.
Weightlifting
One athlete entered a weightlifting event for Jamaica. Hall won the bronze medal in the men's lightweight with a lift of 110 kg; the gold was won by Johnsen of NorwayNorway at the 1968 Summer Paralympics
Norway competed at the 1968 Summer Paralympics in Tel Aviv, Israel. The team finished thirteenth in the medal table and won a total of 9 medals; 5 gold, 13 silver and 1 bronze....
with a new world record lift of 150 kg.