Wikipedia

Great Britain at the 1972 Summer Paralympics

Great Britain sent a delegation to compete at the 1972 Summer Paralympics in Heidelberg, West Germany. Teams from the nation are referred to by International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as Great Britain despite athletes from the whole of the United Kingdom, including those from Northern Ireland, being eligible.[1][2] They sent seventy two competitors, forty seven male and twenty five female.[3] The team won fifty-two medals—sixteen gold, fifteen silver and twenty-one bronze—to finish third in the medal table behind West Germany and the United States.[4] Philip Craven, the former President of the IPC, competed in athletics, swimming and wheelchair basketball for Great Britain at these Games.[5][6][7]

Great Britain at the
1972 Summer Paralympics
Flag of the United Kingdom
IPC codeGBR
NPCBritish Paralympic Association
Websitewww.paralympics.org.uk
in Heidelberg
Competitors72 in 10 sports
Medals
Ranked 3rd
Gold
16
Silver
15
Bronze
21
Total
52
Summer Paralympics appearances (overview)

Disability classifications

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Athletes at the Paralympics in 1972 were all afflicted by spinal cord injuries and required the use of a wheelchair.[8] This is in contrast to later Paralympics that include events for participants that fit into any of five different disability categories; amputation, either congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes; 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.[9][10] Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent upon 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.[11]

Medalists

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Medal Name Sport Event
  Gold Barbara Howie Athletics Women's 60m wheelchair 3
  Gold Carol Bryant Athletics Women's 60m wheelchair 4
  Gold Carol Bryant
Pauline Dukelow
Barbara Howie
Marion O'Brien		 Athletics Women's 4x40m wheelchair relay open
  Gold Barbara Howie Athletics Women's slalom 3
  Gold Marion O'Brien Athletics Women's pentathlon 5
  Gold M. Cooper
Margaret Maughan		 Dartchery Women's pairs open
  Gold Gwen Buck
Irene Nowak		 Lawn bowls Women's pairs
  Gold Michael Shelton Snooker Men's paraplegic
  Gold P. Haslam Snooker Men's tetraplegic
  Gold Alan West Swimming Men's 25m backstroke 1A
  Gold David Ellis Swimming Men's 25m breaststroke 2
  Gold Carol Bryant Table tennis Women's singles 4
  Gold Barbara Anderson
Jane Blackburn		 Table tennis Women's doubles 1A-1B
  Gold R. Rowe Weightlifting Men's light heavyweight
  Gold Ron Parkin
Cyril Thomas
Terry Willett		 Wheelchair fencing Men's sabre team
  Gold Carol Bryant Wheelchair fencing Women's foil novice individual
  Silver Margaret Gibbs Archery Women's FITA round open
  Silver Barbara Anderson Archery Women's St. Nicholas round tetraplegic
  Silver Barbara Anderson
Jane Blackburn
Tommy Taylor		 Archery Mixed St. Nicholas round team tetraplegic
  Silver Marion O'Brien Athletics Women's slalom 5
  Silver John Ure Lawn bowls Men's singles
  Silver Tom Guthrie
John Ure		 Lawn bowls Men's pairs
  Silver F. Nowak Lawn bowls Women's singles
  Silver Alan West Swimming Men's 25m freestyle 1A
  Silver Alan West Swimming Men's 25m breaststroke 1A
  Silver William Thornton Swimming Men's 50m breaststroke 3
  Silver Men's team Table tennis Men's teams 2
  Silver Jane Blackburn Table tennis Women's singles 1B
  Silver Janet Swann Table tennis Women's singles 3
  Silver Women's team Table tennis Women's teams 3
  Silver Ron Parkin Wheelchair fencing Men's sabre individual
  Bronze Jane Blackburn Archery Women's St. Nicholas round tetraplegic
  Bronze Carol Bryant Athletics Women's pentathlon 4
  Bronze Pamela Barnard Lawn bowls Women's singles
  Bronze McGann Snooker Men's tetraplegic
  Bronze Richard Bates Swimming Men's 50m backstroke 3
  Bronze George Simpson Swimming Men's 100m backstroke 6
  Bronze George Simpson Swimming Men's 100m breaststroke 6
  Bronze William Thornton Swimming Men's 75m individual medley 3
  Bronze Pauline Dukelow Swimming Women's 75m individual medley 3
  Bronze Stephen Bradshaw Table tennis Men's singles 1B
  Bronze George Monoghan Table tennis Men's singles 3
  Bronze Paul Lyall Table tennis Men's singles 4
  Bronze Stephen Bradshaw
Tommy Taylor		 Table tennis Men's doubles 1B
  Bronze Men's team Table tennis Men's teams 4
  Bronze G. Matthews Table tennis Women's singles 2
  Bronze Gwen Buck Table tennis Women's singles 3
  Bronze Marion O'Brien Table tennis Women's singles 4
  Bronze Women's team Table tennis Women's teams 2
  Bronze Cyril Thomas Wheelchair fencing Men's épée individual
  Bronze John Clark
Cyril Thomas
Terry Willett		 Wheelchair fencing Men's épée team
  Bronze Sally Haynes
Janet Swann
P. Waller		 Wheelchair fencing Women's foil team

Medals by sport

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Medals by sport
Sport       Total
Athletics 5 1 1 7
Table tennis 2 4 9 15
Swimming 2 3 5 10
Wheelchair Fencing 2 1 3 6
Snooker 2 0 1 3
Lawn Bowls 1 3 1 5
Dartchery 1 0 0 1
Weightlifting 1 0 0 1
Archery 0 3 1 4
Total 16 15 21 52

Archery

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Main article: Archery at the 1972 Summer Paralympics

Great Britain sent fifteen athletes to compete in archery at the Games; British archers won three silver medals and one bronze medal.[5] Anderson was Britain's most successful archer winning silver in the women's St. Nicholas round tetraplegic event and teaming up with Taylor and Jane Blackburn to win silver in the mixed St. Nicholas round team tetraplegic event.[12][13] Margaret Maughan, who won Britain's first ever Paralympic gold medal during the 1960 Games, finished sixth in the women's FITA round open.[14][15]

Athletics

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Main article: Athletics at the 1972 Summer Paralympics

Great Britain's thirty-two athletics competitors won seven medals in athletics.[5] Howie won two individual gold medals in women's wheelchair racing events and added a third gold in the 4×x40 m wheelchair relay. The winning relay team also included Carol Bryant who added an individual gold medal in wheelchair racing and a bronze in pentathlon.[5] Philip Craven, who 29-years later would become President of the IPC finished 24th in both of his athletics events.[5]

Dartchery

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Main article: Dartchery at the 1972 Summer Paralympics

Great Britain entered two athletes in dartchery, Margaret Maughan and M. Cooper competed in the women's pairs event and won the gold medal.[5]

Lawn Bowls

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Main article: Lawn bowls at the 1972 Summer Paralympics

Five British lawn bowls players competed in Heidelberg, each won at least one medal.[5] T. Ure won a silver medal in the men's singles and also won silver in the men's pairs alongside Guthrie.[5] In the women's events Barnard and F. Nowak won bronze and silver respectively in the singles; Nowak also teamed up with Gwen Buck to win the gold medal in the women's pairs.[5]

Snooker

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Main article: Snooker at the 1972 Summer Paralympics

Three British snooker players competed at the Games, each won a medal.[5] In the men's paraplegic event Michael Shelton won gold for the third consecutive Games.[16] In the men's tetraplegic event Great Britain won gold and bronze through Haslam and Mcgann respectively.[5]

Swimming

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Main article: Swimming at the 1972 Summer Paralympics

Twenty-three British athletes took part in swimming events at the Games winning ten medals, two gold, three silver and four bronze.[5] Three medals were won by A. West in men's 25 metres class 1A events, he took gold in backstroke and silvers in breaststroke and freestyle.[5] Philip Craven finished sixth in the men's 50 metres breaststroke class 3.[17]

Table tennis

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Main article: Table tennis at the 1972 Summer Paralympics

Britain entered eighteen table tennis players and won fifteen medals, two gold, four silver and nine bronze.[5]

Weightlifting

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Main article: Weightlifting at the 1972 Summer Paralympics

Three British weightlifters competed in the 1972 Summer Paralympics winning one medal. In the men's light-heavyweight division R. Rowe won the gold medal with a lift of 175 kg, Alan Corrie finished sixth in the same event with his lift of 132.5 kg.[18]

Wheelchair basketball

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Main article: Wheelchair basketball at the 1972 Summer Paralympics

Great Britain entered teams in both the men's and women's events. The women's team lost both their group matches and failed to advance to the medal rounds.[19] The men's team won three of their four group stage matches and advanced to the semifinals to face the United States. They lost the semifinal 36–52 and then lost the bronze medal playoff to Argentina meaning they finished in fourth place.[20]

References

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  1. ^ "No place for 'NI', says Olympic Team GB", Belfast Telegraph, 10 March 2011
  2. ^ "Minister urges BOA to change 'erroneous Team GB name'". BBc News. 10 March 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  3. ^ "Participants Heidelberg 1972 Paralympic Games". International Paralympic Committee. 1972. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  4. ^ "Medal Standings Heidelberg 1972 Paralympic Games". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Athlete Search Results Great Britain 1972". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  6. ^ "Philip Craven Biography". Paralympians' Club. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  7. ^ "Top honours for wheelchair stars". BBC Sport. 10 June 2005. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  8. ^ "Paralympic Games". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  9. ^ "Paralympics categories explained". ABC. 3 September 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  10. ^ "Making sense of the categories". BBC Sport. 6 October 2000. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  11. ^ "A-Z of Paralympic classification". BBC Sport. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  12. ^ "Results Heidelberg 1972 Paralympic Games Archery Women's St. Nicholas Round tetraplegic" (pdf). International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  13. ^ "Results Heidelberg 1972 Paralympic Games Archery Mixed St. Nicholas Round Team tetraplegic" (pdf). International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  14. ^ Burnett, Mike (13 September 2004). "Britain's golden pioneer". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  15. ^ "Results Heidelberg 1972 Paralympic Games Archery Women's FITA Round open" (pdf). International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  16. ^ "Michael Shelton". Paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee.
  17. ^ "Results Heidelberg 1972 Paralympic Games Swimming Men's 50 m Breaststroke 3". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  18. ^ "Results Heidelberg 1972 Paralympic Games Weightlifting Men's Light-Heavyweight". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  19. ^ "Results Heidelberg 1972 Paralympic Games Wheelchair Basketball Women". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
  20. ^ "Results Heidelberg 1972 Paralympic Games Wheelchair Basketball Men". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
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  NODES
Association 1
INTERN 13
Note 1