From Stoke Mandeville to Stratford: a History of the Summer Paralympic Games Brittain, I.S
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From Stoke Mandeville to Stratford: A History of the Summer Paralympic Games Brittain, I.S. Published version deposited in CURVE May 2012 Original citation & hyperlink: Brittain, I.S. (2012) From Stoke Mandeville to Stratford: A History of the Summer Paralympic Games. Champaign, Illinois: Common Ground Publishing. http://sportandsociety.com/books/bookstore/ Copyright © and Moral Rights are retained by the author(s) and/ or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This item cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. CURVE is the Institutional Repository for Coventry University http://curve.coventry.ac.uk/open sportandsociety.com FROM STOKE MANDEVILLE TO STRATFORD: A History of the Summer Paralympic Games A STRATFORD: TO MANDEVILLE FROM STOKE FROM STOKE MANDEVILLE As Aristotle once said, “If you would understand anything, observe its beginning and its development.” When Dr Ian TO STRATFORD Brittain started researching the history of the Paralympic Games after beginning his PhD studies in 1999, it quickly A history of the Summer Paralympic Games became clear that there was no clear or comprehensive source of information about the Paralympic Games or Great Britain’s participation in the Games. This book is an attempt to Ian Brittain document the history of the summer Paralympic Games and present it in one accessible and easy-to-read volume. From the outset, it should be made very clear that this book is not meant to be an academic text. It has always been the author’s intention that it should be a resource for anyone with an interest in the Paralympic Games, their history, or Great SPORT Britain’s participation in the Games. Through twelve years of research, the author has brought together all of the facts, AND SOCIETY figures, and interesting stories that have occurred in the development of the summer Games—from their roots at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in the United Kingdom to the global mega-event they have become today. This is the first publication to include images of posters, winner’s medals, and other artefacts connected with the Games—some of which have never been seen in print. Every endeavour has been made to include all relevant information, and this text serves as an ideal starting point from which future researchers and historians may begin. As we have noticed recently with the increased documentation of Olympic history, it is the author’s hope that this text will inspire others to contribute to a more complete history of the Paralympic Games. A more complete history may lead to a better understanding of the importance of the Paralympic Games and their impact upon the lives of ߃ Ian Brittain people with disabilities. Dr Ian Brittain is Project Manager for ‘Peace, Olympics, Paralympics’ within the Centre for Peace and Reconciliation Studies at Coventry University. He is a former Executive Board member of the International Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Sports Federation and has attended the last three Paralympic Games in Sydney, Athens, and Beijing. Besides carrying out research in sport as a tool for peace and development, a large part of his research focuses on sociological, historical, and sports management aspects of Paralympic and disability sport. SPORT AND SOCIETY Safety Area: All Text, Logos & Barcode should remain inside the Pink Dotted Lines Bleed Area: All Backgrounds should extend to, but not past, the Blue Dotted Lines FROM STOKE MANDEVILLE TO STRATFORD A HISTORY OF THE SUMMER PARALYMPIC GAMES IAN BRITTAIN FROM STOKE MANDEVILLE TO STRATFORD A HISTORY OF THE SUMMER PARALYMPIC GAMES IAN BRITTAIN Common Ground First published in Champaign, Illinois in 2012 by Common Ground Publishing LLC as part of the Sport and Society series Copyright © Ian Brittain 2012 All rights reserved. Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Brittain, Ian. From Stoke Mandeville to Stratford : a history of the summer paralympic games / Ian Brittain. p. cm. -- (Sport and society series) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-86335-986-3 (hbk : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-86335-987-0 (pbk : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-86335-988-7 (pdf) 1. Paralympics--History. 2. Sports for people with disabilities. 3. Athletes with disabilities. I. Title. II. Series. GV722.5.P37B74 2012 796.087--dc23 2011034915 Table of Contents Foreword by Sir Philip Craven, President – International Paralympic Committee . ix Foreword by Maura Strange, Secretary General – International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation . x Acknowledgements . xi Introduction . xiii Chapter 1: The Birth of a Worldwide Mega-Event . 1 Chapter 2: Rome, Italy 1960 . 51 Chapter 3: Tokyo, Japan 1964 . 65 Chapter 4: Tel Aviv, Israel 1968 . 83 Chapter 5: Heidelberg, Germany 1972 . 101 Chapter 6: Toronto, Canada 1976 . 117 Chapter 7: Arnhem, The Netherlands 1980 . 135 Chapter 8: New York, USA 1984 . 153 Chapter 9: Stoke Mandeville, UK 1984 . 181 Chapter 10: Seoul, South Korea 1988 . 199 Chapter 11: Barcelona, Spain 1992 . 221 Chapter 12: Madrid, Spain 1992 . 241 Chapter 13: Atlanta, USA 1996 . 253 Chapter 14: Sydney, Australia 2000 . 271 Chapter 15: Athens, Greece 2004 . 293 Chapter 16: Beijing, China 2008 . .309 Chapter 17: Toward a Single Worldwide Organisational Body for International Disability Sport . 329 vii Appendices . 357 Appendix 1: Results of All Summer Olympic Wheelchair Demonstration Events (1984-2004) . 357 Appendix 2: British Team Sizes and Total British Medals won at the Summer Paralympic Games . 360 Appendix 3: British Medals by Sport, Games and Gender . 361 Appendix 4: Top Performing British Medalists . 372 viii Foreword by Sir Philip Craven, President – International Paralympic Committee I welcome this latest book detailing all summer Paralympic Summer Games since their inception in Rome in 1960 to the incredible edition that took place in China in 2008. Ian Brittain’s scholarship is renowned for its detail and his ability to hunt down the final statistic or piece of information that completes the picture. His determination is a perfect example of one of the Paralympic move- ment’s key values The history of the Paralympic Games is an incredible story of the tri- umph of the human spirit over adversity which has produced incredible ath- letic performances, incredible athletes and great human beings. Read this book and soak up the Paralympic spirit Philip Craven Sir Philip Craven MBE President - International Paralympic Committee (IPC) ix Foreword by Maura Strange, Secretary General – International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation It gives me great delight to see this book published. From a collaboration borne out of a common interest, I have worked enough with Ian in the past to know that this book will be an invaluable research tool for anyone inter- ested in the history of the Paralympic movement. The book includes an in- teresting perspective and seeks to represent relevant data from both an in- ternational (multi-national) and British national perspective, giving well in- vestigated factual detail on these two different aspects of the Paralympic Games’ history. I would rate this as one of the foremost publications to provide general readers as well as educational or media researchers interested in this subject with a very knowledgeable and factually-based history of the Paralympic Games, including the years of IWAS (formerly International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation – ISMGF), followed by the International Coordinating Committee - ICC (now replaced by IPC) and the Interna- tional Paralympic Committee - IPC itself. May I take the opportunity to congratulate you all on purchasing this book – you will find it of great interest. Maura Strange Secretary General International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (Founders of the Paralympic Games) x Acknowledgements So many people have assisted me with this project over the last twelve years that I simply do not have space to thank them all individually, but I would like to give you all a heartfelt thank you for your time, assistance and un- stinting generosity. In twelve years only one organisation has refused to assist with my research or allow me access to their archives. I would par- ticularly like to thank the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation for all their help. In their former guise as the International Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Sports Federation they were responsible for help- ing to found the Stoke Mandeville Games that went on to become the Para- lympic Games and they have been kind enough to provide a large propor- tion of the images that appear throughout the book, especially in chapter one. Other organisations that have assisted greatly are the International Paralympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee. Numer- ous Paralympians and disability sports organisations from around the world have played a part in the formation of this book and without their help, ad- vice and assistance this book simply would not have been possible. Thank you again one and all! Photographic Credits/ Acknowledgements Rudi van den Abbeele