Rhodesia at the 1968 Summer Paralympics
Encyclopedia
Rhodesia competed at the 1968 Summer Paralympics
in Tel Aviv
, Israel
from November 4 to 13, 1968. The team ranked eleventh out of the twenty-eight competing nations in the medal table
and won a total of twenty medals; six gold, seven silver and seven bronze. Rhodesia competed at the Paralympics in 1968 and in 1972 despite being excluded from the Summer Olympic Games
in those years.
, 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.
.
B; Gesina Smit won the silver medal in C classification women's javelin; Bronze medals were won by Avril Davis in the women's D shot put and by Leslie Manson-Bishop in the men's pentathlon.
event was contested at the Games, the men's open event. Keith Pienaar entered for Rhodesia. He was eliminated at the quarterfinal stage, the first round of the competition, by Aroldo Ruschioni of Italy. Michael Shelton
of Great Britain
won the gold medal.
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 ranked eleventh out of the twenty-eight competing nations 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 twenty medals; six gold, seven silver and seven bronze. Rhodesia competed at the Paralympics in 1968 and in 1972 despite being excluded from the Summer Olympic Games
Summer Olympic Games
The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Olympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that...
in those years.
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
Three of the Rhodesian delegation participated in archery events, none won a medal. Their best finish was sixth by Smit in the women's Albion round open, an event won by Maragaret Harriman, who previously competed for Rhodesia at the 1960 Summer ParalympicsRhodesia at the 1960 Summer Paralympics
Rhodesia competed at the inaugural Summer Paralympic Games in 1960 in Rome. It was the only African country to take part. Rhodesia fielded the joint smallest delegation. Like Finland and Ireland, it sent only one competitor: Margaret Harriman, who competed in archery and swimming.Harriman won a...
.
Athletics
Rhodesia won four athletics medals; Jacqueline Thompson won gold in the women's shot putShot put
The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting action....
B; Gesina Smit won the silver medal in C classification women's javelin; Bronze medals were won by Avril Davis in the women's D shot put and by Leslie Manson-Bishop in the men's pentathlon.
Dartchery
The only dartchery event at the Games was the mixed pairs event which took a knockout format. The Rhodesian pair of Glynn Griffiths and George Mann was defeated in the first round by the Italian pair of 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. Keith Pienaar entered for Rhodesia. He was eliminated at the quarterfinal stage, the first round of the competition, by Aroldo Ruschioni of Italy. 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:...
of Great Britain
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...
won the gold medal.