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Home , Jairos Jiri, Ludwig Guttmann, Paralympic Games, South African Games, Sport in Africa

ISOH INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF OLYMPIC HISTORIANS

Politics and the : in - Andrew Novak n 1948, Dr. , a physician and surgeon as the first Paralympics. Rhodesia was well-represented: Iat the Hospital near , Unit- Harriman took home two gold medals in and a ed Kingdom, organized the first games for with silver and two bronze in women’s events at spinal-cord injuries. Dr. Guttmann pioneered a regimen those first Paralympics.5 of therapy for his patients, encouraging sport and physi- With Harriman’s encouragement, athletes with dis- cal exercise as part of a program to help overcome trau- abilities in Rhodesia adopted training techniques and ma. A one-in-ten survival rate for spinal injury in 1940 coaches from the non-disabled sport world. The country had become a nine-in-ten survival rate by 1950, and the was still then the British colony of , a Games commemorated the tremendous medical advanc- white minority-ruled state in which systems of racial seg- es of the post-war years.1 The opening ceremonies of the regation and class division deepened even as independ- first Stoke Mandeville Games, with two teams of four- ence was imminent for most African countries. The resist- teen men and two women, coincided with the opening of ance of Rhodesia’s large white minority to black majority the 1948 Olympics, the first post-war Olympiad. rule only grew as time passed. In 1965, Rhodesia’s white Guttmann later referred to this as a “coincidence,” as if to settlers, numbering nearly a quarter of a million, rebelled imply the link between the two Games was destiny.2 But against the world and declared their state sovereign of the destiny it may have been: twelve years later the Stoke . African states, backed by Britain and the Mandeville Games opened in the Olympic Stadium in developing world, sought to ostracize Rhodesia from in- in the first Paralympic Games, the world’s premier ternational organizations, including sporting events, and sporting competition for athletes with . deny the illegal regime recognition.6 Sporting contacts The second Stoke Mandeville Games opened in 1949 could “enhance the subjective perception of the legitima- with six teams; among the athletes was the late Marga- cy of the political system,” Strack notes.7 For a brutal po- ret Harriman, one of the most accomplished all-around lice state, critics argued, this was unconscionable. Paralympians in history. Just two years before, at age 19, The Paralympic Movement, evolving from its medical Harriman sustained a fractured spine in a tractor acci- and humanitarian origins into the world of sport, eventu- dent. She wound up in Stoke Mandeville for treatment ally confronted the world of cruel politics. Large swaths and immediately latched on to sport as a supplement to of the newly-independent world and the Soviet bloc en- her rehabilitation. When the quartermaster handed her a tered the Paralympic Movement, and inevitably the ten- wooden bow and arrows, her first shot hit the gold cent- sions between the developed and developing worlds er of the target.3 She never gave up her interest: when she erupted over the continued participation of Rhodesia and immigrated to the Southern African country of Rhodesia its neighbor, South . The division be- (colonial Zimbabwe) in 1957, she brought disabled sport tween haves and have-nots, however, persisted. As dis- with her to the African continent.5 The year 1957 proved ability sport became increasingly commercialized, new pivotal in the history of the Stoke Mandeville Games: forms of training, equipment, and competition height- 360 competitors from twenty-four countries participated. ened a class division, placing sport out of reach for many The Games had grown too large for organizers to handle; disabled persons worldwide. To a great extent, class and beginning in 1958, the Games would become a national race were correlated. Suffering from lower literacy rates, competition from which a British team would be chosen gender bias, structural unemployment, chronic instabili- to advance to international competition, opening in 1960 ty or natural disaster, and lack of social welfare, the posi-

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tion of disabled persons in the developing world remains pics after the Olympics, only over time did the two char- precarious.8 Disability often creates economic depend- ismatic visions merge. The began at the ence; in the developing world, disability sport, howev- height of European imperialism, personified in the mythi- er important it is for health, socialization, and accept- cal connection to Ancient Greece, the birthplace of West- ance, may be impossible. For the Paralympic Movement, ern civilization. From the first Olympiad in in which has led countless athletes to overcome barriers and 1896, the Olympics tended to replicate the social distinc- build bridges, this contradiction has defined its history. tions of the late nineteenth century: the division between The history of Rhodesia’s Paralympic participation illus- amateurism (middle class) and professionalism (working trates these tensions cogently. class); strict gender divisions; and a corporate structure heavily weighted toward the West.14 The Paralympics, on Paralympism as Charismatic Authority the other hand, descended not from an ancient religious The words and deeds of Sir Ludwig Guttmann and the sporting festival, but from modern medical technology; medical and humanitarian commitment of Stoke Man- Paralympism was a challenge to the old order, which had deville infect the Paralympic Movement’s modern or- long held that the strongest and most perfectly formed ganization and define its vision. In many ways, Paralym- should dominate. Integration became the watchword of pism is a charismatic authority, as defined by Max Weber. the Paralympic Movement: the integration of a disability Charisma exists outside the world of rational rules and into the body through rehabilitation and therapy; the in- immemorial traditions, rooted in the spiritual, revolving tegration of disability sport into the able-bodied sporting around a supernatural leader who commands the loyalty sphere; the integration of a person with a disability into and respect of his followers. This charisma, unbounded society. The dream of athletes to overcome their limita- as it is by laws and limitations and dedicated to the status tions, this was the dream of Guttmann’s Paralympism. of a charismatic individual, is inherently unstable. Cha- The year 1960 was the fulfillment of Guttmann’s vi- risma thus becomes either erased (“routinized” in We- sion, as 400 disabled competitors gathered in Rome’s Ol- ber’s words) or transferred to an office, a position, or a ympic Stadium, lived in the Olympic Village, and com- continuing authority (“institutionalized”).9 peted under Olympic conditions.15 Although the 1957 Scholars have long recognized the charismatic origins Stoke Mandeville Games, with 360 competitors from 24 of the Olympic Movement, descended from the “charis- countries, were roughly equivalent in scale and to matic leadership of [Baron Pierre] de Coubertin, and his the 1960 Games, the difference was the Olympic connec- idealist vision of Olympism,” which “has been institu- tion; thus, the 1960 Stoke Mandeville Games in Rome tionalized into the [International Olympic Committee] as have retroactively become known as the first Paralym- a value structure from which decisions emanate.”10 The pics. After Rome came in 1964. Guttmann’s ideal- quasi-religious rituals and symbols surrounding the Ol- ism, reminiscent of de Coubertin’s half a century earlier, ympics, the rhythmic four-year cycle, the motto “citius, was evident: “The Tokyo Games were a wonderful dem- altius, fortius” (faster, higher, stronger), the five rings and onstration of international cooperation and goodwill,” the torch, and the solemn opening and closing ceremo- he wrote: Although the will to win was very high and nies, are all part of this almost spiritual faith of Prophet each gave of his best, running through de Coubertin and his successors on the IOC, mythically the Games was a sense of deeper purpose, which binds attached to the world of Ancient Greece and the sporting the physically handicapped from so many countries into festivals that date back to 770 B.C.11 a close unity. They realize that the Games have a much The origins of the Paralympic Movement share many deeper significance than the winning of medals and hon- of the same qualities. As Sainsbury notes, the name Sir ors for their country. [...] So long as our three symbols-- Ludwig Guttmann “is as synonymous with the Paralym- friendship, unity, and sportsmanship--remain the guiding pic Games as de Coubertin’s name is with the Olympic principles of the Stoke Mandeville Games, these Games Games.”12 Olympism and Paralympism descended from will go from strength to strength and remain an inspira- the charismatic visions of their respective prophetic lead- tion to the movement of all disabled in the world.16 ers, whose idealism transferred to their organizations. Over When he opened the 1960 Rome Games, Pope John XX- the decades, the two Movements have sought to preserve III was right on target: “Dr. Guttmann, you are the de the visions of their founders, combating those unwelcome Coubertin of the Paralyzed!”17 forces that threatened the charisma: the commercialism, De Coubertin’s Olympic vision, founded in an era of the politics, the doping, the professionalism. Sir Gutt- kings and empires, radically changed in the decades that mann, like de Coubertin before him, carried a universal, followed as the Euro-centric Games expanded to include internationalist vision: “Looking into the future, I fore- large swaths of Africa and Asia and the Soviet bloc. The saw the time when this sports event would be truly inter- new members gave rise to a new, competing vision of national and the Stoke Mandeville Games would achieve Olympism that threatened the charismatic authority of world fame as the disabled person’s equivalent of the Ol- the IOC: the belief in sport as a human right, in absolute ympic Games,” he recalled of those first 1948 Games.13 anti-discrimination and representative democracy in the Despite these conscious efforts to model the Paralym- sporting sphere. The controversies that rocked the Olym-

48 Jo u r n a l o f Ol y m p i c Hi s t o r y 16(Ma r c h 2008)Nu m b e r 1 ISOH INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF OLYMPIC HISTORIANS pic Games over the expulsions first of and ally segregated athletes by disability; hence, an athlete then of Rhodesia illustrate the spectacular clash between with a would only compete against the charismatic vision and the competing democratic one. other athletes with spinal cord injuries” and not, for in- When the controversies came to a final vote, the demo- stance, against athletes with or cerebral pal- cratic tendency won, and the two white minority regimes sy, even if the mobility of the athletes were similar.21 The were expelled. In the end, the vision itself changed: in gulf between the “medical camp” and the “sports camp” 1981, a revision of the included issues deepened. In 1984, two separate Summer Paralympics of human rights and anti-discrimination, co-opting the were held: wheelchair events, organized on a medical ba- competing egalitarian vision of Olympism.18 sis with closed competition for athletes with spinal cord The Paralympic Movement, as well, radically changed injuries, were held in Stoke Mandeville (2300 athletes, with the integration of new trends, cultures, and technol- representing 45 countries), while all other athletes com- ogies into the disability-sporting sphere, eventually out- peted in , organized on a sporting basis growing its medical-humanitarian origins. After Tokyo, with open competition determined by ability, not disabil- the Paralympics continued their rhythmic cycle separate- ity (1700 athletes, 41 countries). Integrating new athletes ly from the Olympics, for a variety of political and finan- into the Movement mirrored the integrative Paralympic cial reasons: , in 1968; , West ideal and changed Paralympism forever: for as long as Germany in 1972; , Canada in 1976; , the the Movement was about medicine and the humanitarian Netherlands in 1980. The paths of the Paralympics and ideals of Stoke Mandeville, it remained above politics, Olympics would reunite, more than two decades after the insulated from the political sphere. The 1976 “Torontol- 1964 Tokyo Games in , South Korea in 1988.19 Just ympiad” was the first jointly organized by the Interna- as the old social distinctions of white, male, upper-class tional Stoke Mandeville Games Federation (ISMGF), sport preserved in the Olympics began to erode in the composed of medical professionals, and the International second half of the twentieth century, so too did the Para- Sports Organization for the Disabled (ISOD), composed lympics diversify. Old barriers would fall. of sport professionals. Although Guttman was presi- Politics would eventually infect the movement. In dent of both, the ISMGF alone had organized the previ- 1976, several countries boycotted the Toronto Paralym- ous four Paralympics. The Toronto Games were also the pics before and during the Games in order to protest the first threatened by politics; perhaps the shift in the Paral- of apartheid South Africa. As Scruton writes, ympic philosophy from its medical-humanitarian origins “sadly, it was the first time that the Games had been dis- into the world of sport removed the insulation of the Par- rupted by political intervention, denying disabled ath- alympics from the political arena.22 letes the right to compete in sports events for which they The definition of “disability” expanded to include had trained for years.” It was “a blow against the ide- new groups not yet integrated into the world of disability als of the international federations in creating a world sport: athletes with visual impairments and amputations sports movement for severely disabled people,” she con- first competed in 1976 Toronto Paralympics, and in the cluded.20 years that followed athletes with intellectual disabilities Guttmann’s charismatic vision, though continuing to competed as well.23 Modern medical technology helped define the Paralympic Movement, was rapidly changing erode the old classification systems: the use of prosthet- as it confronted international political forces. ics and aids have helped to integrate athletes with vary- A certain tension always existed in the Paralympic ing disabilities. The Olympics and Paralympics de fac- Movement between the medical professionals and hu- to for the 1988 Seoul Games, and by treaty for the 2000 manitarians who sought to organize the Games around Games, symbolized this trend. Today, the mod- disability, with a rigid classification system in which ath- ern International Paralympic Committee lists “integra- letes of similar disability would compete together; and tion” among its goals: the sports professionals who sought organization solely “to seek the integration of sports for athletes with around sport, with athletes of varying (dis)abilities com- a disability into the international sports move- peting across categorical lines. In the early years, the ment for able-bodied athletes, while safeguarding medical tendencies, supported by Guttmann, were para- and preserving the identity of sports for disabled mount, and organizers enforced a rigid classification sys- athletes.”24 tem for determining eligibility for sporting competitions. Not all was integrative. As Sainsbury alludes,“the ex- By the 1970s, the transition was clear: sports profession- plosion in sophisticated equipment with all the expense als, not the medical community, organized the first Para- involved in areas such as designer and pros- lympic Winter Games in Onskoldsvik, in 1976. thetics” are a major barrier to universal disability sport. As McLarty explains,“the Winter Paralympics were or- 25 In a country like Zimbabwe, which has been starkly so- ganized by functional classification, meaning by physi- cially divided for most of modern history, this “disability cal ability to do sport rather than medical diagnosis (i.e., divide” persists despite the efforts of the modern disabili- disability).” In short, only ability, not disability, mat- ty rights movement. Zimbabwe’s participation in the Par- tered. On the other hand, “the Summer Games tradition- alympic Games, especially the team’s dazzling victories

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at the 2000 Sydney and the 2004 Athens Paralympics, gan in Rome in 1960. The 1960 Olympic team includ- has given rise to a new generation of heroes. In winning ed black African schoolmaster Cyprian Tseriwa in the their personal struggles, Zimbabwe’s disabled athletes 10,000 meters. At Tokyo, in 1964, the Rhodesian Olym- have not only become role models for persons living with pic team included marathon runners Mathias Kanda and a disability; they are national symbols of the insurmount- Robson Mrombe. The first Olympic Games after Rhode- able obstacles that their countrymen overcame in their sia’s unilateral declaration of independence in 1965 were nation’s tragic history. the Mexico City Games in 1968. Again the Rhodesian team was racially integrated, with Kanda and long-dis- Sport and Disability in a Divided Society tance runner Bernard Dzoma, the holders of numerous White settler-ruled Rhodesia, since 1965 in rebellion white records and titles.28 By 1968, however, South Af- from the British Empire, sent teams to both the 1972 Mu- rica had been suspended from the Olympic Games, and nich Olympics and the Heidelberg Paralympics, both held Mexico Olympic organizers were reluctant to spark a in West Germany. Here the histories diverged: the all- repeat of the bitter South African controversy with the white Rhodesian Paralympic team took home ten medals, Rhodesian team. The British Government, opposed to five of them gold; the racially integrated Olympic team, the participation of its rebellious colony, joined Mexi- however, would win no medals. The threat of an African can officials in disrupting communications, lobbying be- boycott and the potential disruption of the Munich Ol- hind the scenes, and “losing” paperwork in the mail, de- ympics over Rhodesian participation was a cost too high spite the fervent protests from IOC members, devoted to for the IOC, which chose instead to exclude the isolated their anti-political charismatic vision of Olympism.29 As rebel state from competition. Why did Rhodesia continue Strack concludes, “Rhodesia was not formally exclud- to compete in the Paralympics but not in the Olympics? ed from the 1968 games; Rhodesia was maneuvered into The Paralympics were fundamentally more isolated from withdrawing.”30 international political currents than the Olympics were In 1972, at the Munich Olympics, a threatened Afri- for three reasons. First, the Paralympics were decided- can boycott forced the IOC’s hand: four days before the ly more integrative and internationalist than the Olym- opening of the Games, the IOC voted to exclude Rho- pics, and, given the Movement’s medical and humanitar- desia from competition. The Rhodesian Olympic team ian background, seen to be “above” politics. Second, the included seven black Africans, a majority of the team’s small-scale nature and the generally lower public inter- large squad.31 Despite a compromise un- est in the Paralympics meant that policymakers and ad- der which the Rhodesians participated under their old co- vocates did not push as hard for expulsion of the white lonial flag and the anthem “God Save the Queen” to avoid minority regimes (“below” politics). Finally, simple ge- giving the illegal regime recognition, the Rhodesian ath- opolitics was determinative: Africa and the developing letes were reduced to watching the opening ceremonies world were underrepresented; their collective voice was from the stands. A 1974 IOC investigation into Rhode- weaker. sian sport highlighted racial discrimination in many as- With the independence of Sub-Saharan Africa and the pects of the Rhodesian sporting sphere, while conced- resulting power shift in the structures of many interna- ing that such discrimination was not universal.32 In 1975, tional sports bodies, South African participation came Rhodesia was permanently expelled from the Olympic under assault: sport in South Africa was strictly segre- Movement, one of only two countries to ever experience gated, and only all-white teams could represent South that fate; the other was South Africa in 1970. Africa abroad. As a sanctioned, white-ruled state, Rho- What was true for Rhodesian sport was also, to some desia’s fate in many international organizations often fol- extent, true for disability services. These services tended lowed South Africa’s. The sporting sphere in Rhodesia, to be autonomous of government control, charity-driv- however, was not segregated along South African lines, en with minimal central coordination, and tended to re- and white domination was incomplete, only partially es- flect, in practice rather than law, the racial and class di- tablished. While boxing, for instance, came under state visions of the society. As Peresuh and Barcham note: control early on, regulated and standardized as part of a “Until 1980, the education of children with greater pattern of urban domination, government intru- was provided by charitable organizations and churches”, sion into soccer was much less successful.26 The 1947-9 with humanitarian organizations, like the Jairos Jiri Asso- football strike in protest of government attempts to con- ciation and the Council for the Blind, complementing the trol soccer was successful, preserving soccer’s autono- efforts of missionaries in providing ser- my and independent organization under black African vices. “There was no national policy on special educa- control.27 The segregation of the sporting sphere in Rho- tion, the Ministry of Education’s involvement before 1980 desia was highly uneven, varying by sport, club, event, was minimal, any initiatives were generally uncoordinat- and locality. This allowed black Rhodesians to make real ed and children with special educational needs were usu- progress in Rhodesian sport, and, unlike South Africa, na- ally placed in rural boarding schools or institutions.”33 tional sports teams by 1960 were increasingly integrated. To this was added segregation in many of the special Rhodesia’s Olympic and Paralympic experiences be- schools, funding dependent on church and charitable do-

50 Jo u r n a l o f Ol y m p i c Hi s t o r y 16(Ma r c h 2008)Nu m b e r 1 ISOH INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF OLYMPIC HISTORIANS nations, and a lack of specialist training staff. monwealth Paraplegic Games in Perth, Western Austra- lia, in 1962, immediately prior to the Commonwealth “Serious concern for the education of children with Games, occupied organizers. Nine teams competed, in- disabilities and learning difficulties began at Inde- cluding four from the United Kingdom representing Eng- pendence [in 1980] with the adoption of a national land, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, along with policy of universal primary education,” teams from , India, , Rhodesia, and Singapore.40 It was the only Commonwealth Paraplegic Peresuh and Barcham add.34 Mpofu further notes that Games in which Rhodesia would participate, although the social division between whites and blacks has tended the small African nation had had independent represen- to persist into modern Zimbabwean society: “Black Zim- tation in the since 1934. By the babweans tend to patronize the informal rehabilitation time of the next Commonwealth Games, in Kingston, Ja- sector more than White Zimbabweans,” while whites maica in 1966, Rhodesia’s membership in the Common- tended to utilize the formal sector for disability servic- wealth had been suspended after the country’s unrecog- es.35 nized declaration of independence in 1965. Along with The Rhodesian Paralympic team bound for the 1960 Harriman, the 1962 Rhodesian team in Perth included Games in Rome had two athletes, Margaret Harriman gold medalist Lynn Gilchrist, the star of the 1964 Para- and George Mann. She was the favorite in the archery lympic team in Tokyo. contests, and also entered for the pentathlon and table The Rhodesian team almost didn’t make it to Tokyo. events. Mann had only been an archer for six Less than a month before the Games began, the team of months, but he had a strong record in local competition. six and three coaches had to abandon plans to fly on a The Polio Fellowship gave full support to Harriman and chartered plane with the South African team. At the last Mann, starting a fund to build support from the Rhode- minute, the athletes were forced to raise enough mon- sian sporting community, businesses, state lotteries, and ey to transfer to a commercial airline.41 The 1964 team private individuals to pay the way of the athletes, reflect- had six members: Harriman, Mann, Gilchrist, Les Man- ing the autonomy of the sporting sphere. One member of son-Bishop, Kieth Pienaar, and weightlifter Alan Robert- the Rhodesian Olympic team in Rome, boxing manager son. “When the Rhodesian Paraplegic sports team flies Archie Calder, was to remain in Rome through the Par- off to Tokyo today it will be a great triumph,” wrote one alympic Games to save the cost of an additional return Rhodesian newspaper correspondent. “The para[plegic] ticket for another coach.36 team is the strongest we have yet fielded and every mem- Nearly 400 athletes from twenty-one countries partici- ber is good.”42 On November 2, the team left Salisbury, pated in the Rome Paralympics, opened by Italian Minis- the capital of the white-ruled state, by air, arriving in To- ter for Public Health Camillo Giardina, and graced by the kyo after dark some days later, awed by the city lights presence of Pope John XXIII. The pope told the athletes, and the hospitality and organization of the hosts.43 “You have shown what an energetic soul can achieve, in “The Japanese press, radio and television took a tre- spite of apparently insurmountable obstacles imposed mendous interest in the Games, and representatives came by the body.” The Rome Games were dogged by logis- daily to the Village to interview officials and competi- tical difficulties, with accommodation built on stilts and tors,” Scruton recalled, noting the intense press interest only accessible by means of steep ramps and steps. These in the Games, involving 390 wheelchair athletes from problems affected the Rhodesians as well. The Olympic 21 countries.44 The Rhodesian press took an interest in coach who was supposed to stay behind left early, and the Games as well, keeping count of Rhodesia’s med- Harriman and Mann had to enlist the assistance of their al-winning performances, beginning with Manson-Bish- teammates. op’s tie for bronze in javelin on the first day. “The weath- er has been bitterly cold on the first two days with rain “Both are living in blocks with two flights of stairs, and strong winds affecting performances considerably,” and George Mann gets helped downstairs, he the Herald noted.45 The Games were severely time-con- has to remain there for the rest of the day,” a Her- strained, squeezed into four and a half days, leading to ald reporter noted, adding, “it is extremely diffi- a scheduling nightmare. Harriman had to throw the first cult for the Rhodesians to find out what is happen- javelin in one event before rushing from the field to com- ing and where.” The reporter concluded, “This is a pete in archery. In the end, the six Rhodesian Paralym- poor reflection on Rhodesia.”39 pians won an astonishing ten gold medals, five silver, and two bronze. Secretary Lynn Gilchrist won five gold Rhodesia’s performance in the Games was respect- and two silver, the undisputed champion of the team. able in any case: Margaret Harriman took home two gold She competed in swimming, javelin, shot put, and club medals in archery, and a silver and two bronze in wom- throwing, medaling in each of them.46 The 1964 Paralym- en’s swimming events. pics may well have been Rhodesia’s most successful in- After the success of the first Paralympics in Rome, ternational sporting event during the period of white set- as Scruton writes, the decision to hold the first Com- tler rule.

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After the Tokyo Games, given the great changes that the cards and not in the passports. If the Israelis didn’t had occurred in Africa in the early 1960s, the days of see the unrecognized passports, then they couldn’t refuse white minority rule in Africa seemed numbered. The them. white electorate in Rhodesia, seeking to preserve its pow- er, gave a landslide victory to white farmer Ian Smith, a “I hope my Consul General can be authorized to staunch Rhodesian nationalist. In November 1965, Smith tell the Israel [sic] Consular Department that we and his Rhodesian Front government announced a unilat- would have no objection to this procedure,” the eral declaration of independence from the British Empire, British diplomatic officer wrote. “The Israelis are confirming a separation that had long existed in practice. probably amongst the most helpful of our friends By 1968, comprehensive trade and travel restrictions on the Rhodesian question but they might be tempt- were installed on the white regime, and Rhodesia’s status ed to be less cooperative if we failed to meet their in sporting organizations came under fire. As the follow- difficulties on this relatively minor point. We could ing analysis of British diplomacy will show, however, the also expect a good share of press criticism if at our Paralympic Games were immune from the political earth- insistence [sic] the Israelis were to make an is- quakes then threatening other sporting spheres, especial- sue over the type of passport held by Rhodesian ly the Olympic Games. Those seeking the expulsion of cripples.”49 Rhodesian teams and athletes, fearing that participation would grant some sort of recognition or acceptance on An internal memorandum in the Foreign and Com- the illegal regime, did not feel the same way about the monwealth Office, responsible for the Rhodesian issue, Paralympics. This contradiction fundamentally illus- indicates that the Israeli suggestions were well taken. trates how the ideals and heritage of the Paralympics in- “Do you agree that we can turn a blind eye to the sulated the Games from the political arena. paraplegic sports?” one official asked. “I must say that Although the first two Paralympiads, in Rome and it would be very unfortunate, to say the least, if we felt Tokyo, were held alongside the Olympics, Mexico City obliged to lay ourselves open to the charge of being organizers were unable to host the 1968 Paralympics. beastly to paraplegics.”50 The point was clear: the Par- The International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation alympics were an illegitimate target for political maneu- (ISMGF), the organizers of the Paralympics, accepted vering. the bid of Tel Aviv, Israel for the Games, commemorat- The irony of these statements is that almost simultane- ing the twentieth anniversary of the founding of both the ously a vigorous British effort to exclude Rhodesia from Stoke Mandeville Games and the State of Israel. Scruton the 1968 Mexico City Olympics was under way. Already recalls the “special magic” surrounding the Holy Land by early 1968, the highest levels of British diplomats Games, which included 750 athletes from 29 nations. were lobbying the IOC, Mexican officials and Games or- The opening ceremony took place in the Hebrew Univer- ganizers, and other Commonwealth governments to ex- sity of Jerusalem Stadium and was officially opened by clude the Rhodesians. One diplomatic report from early Deputy Prime Minister Yigal Allon.47 The Israeli Games 1968 recalled how the British Foreign Minister organizers were obligated to invite the Rhodesian team, a member in good standing with the ISMGF. “emphasized how serious a propaganda defeat A telegram from the British Embassy in Israel to the we could suffer. If Rhodesia sent a team, including Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London is partic- colored athletes, to Mexico to compete as a sepa- ularly revealing. rate nationality, then [Prime Minister] Smith could feel he had again succeeded in smacking us in the “The Israel [sic] authorities have agreed to our face.”51 request not to recognize passports issued by the illegal regime in Rhodesia and would normally Perhaps British officials could not see the irony: they refuse entry to the holder of such a passport,”the were supporting the inclusion of an all-white Rhodesian telegram noted. For the Paralympic Games, how- team in the Paralympics, and opposing the inclusion of ever, the Israelis were “reluctant to apply the rules an integrated team in the Olympics. Officials believed too strictly on this occasion both because Isra- the Paralympics to be simultaneously insignificant (be- el is the host country and because they anticipate low politics) and somehow sacred, medical or humanitar- an emotional outcry from in the Press if it seemed ian in nature (above politics). This ambivalence in British that they were acting harshly toward the physical- policy reflected the contradictions inherent in the Para- ly handicapped.”48 lympic movement itself. For the Rhodesians, the Tel Aviv Games were an un- Israeli immigration officials asked British permis- qualified success. The team was about double the size sion to allow in the Rhodesian athletes without asking of the 1964 team, with ten athletes medaling; Rhodesia for passports. The Rhodesians would be asked to fill out won twenty medals overall, six gold, seven silver, and landing cards, and the entry visas would be stamped on seven bronze. As the official report stated, absolute med-

52 Jo u r n a l o f Ol y m p i c Hi s t o r y 16(Ma r c h 2008)Nu m b e r 1 ISOH INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF OLYMPIC HISTORIANS al counts were misleading and often turned into a politi- low the athletes to compete not as representatives of cal race between the and the Soviet Union. Rhodesia, but as individuals.57 In fact, if the number of medals won was divided by the Not only did the British raise no objection to the par- number of athletes on the team, South Africa came first ticipation of their rebellious colony in the Paralympic in the medal count, with eight athletes winning 24 med- Games, but they even agreed to invite the Rhodesian ath- als, three medals per athlete. Rhodesia came in second letes to a reception held by the British Ambassador to with 1.3 medals per athlete, and the United States was West Germany, to which the teams from Gibraltar and third with 1.2 medals per athlete.52 Rhodesia’s best per- the Bahamas, the only other British dependencies at the formances were in the pool: fifteen of the twenty medals Games, were invited. were in swimming events. Evidence appears to indicate that the Rhodesians “As we have taken the view that, on humanitari- marched separately in the opening ceremonies, although an grounds, there is no objection to Rhodesian partici- whether the team had a flag or anthem is uncertain.53 By pation in the Games, it follows that we should treat the the 1972 Paralympics in Heidelberg, West Germany, a Rhodesians as individual paraplegics from a British col- significant change had occurred in British politics: Har- ony,” the Rhodesia Department in the Foreign Office fi- old Wilson’s Labor Government had fallen and Edward nally determined. “This would help to show after the ar- Heath’s Conservative one had succeeded it. As one For- gument about Rhodesian participation in the Olympic eign Office official noted: “The previous Government’s Games, that we are not vindictive to Rhodesians, but we policy was to make every effort to prevent Rhodesian na- are simply concerned to maintain the status quo as re- tional teams from participating in - gards sanctions.”58 ing events, since this might give the regime some degree of international recognition. Under the present Govern- The British diplomats clearly believed the Paralympi- ment, it has become the practice to leave the host coun- ans should be protected “on humanitarian grounds” from try to make its own decision without prompting from the intense political controversies taking place in the in- us,”although Rhodesian athletes could not compete in the ternational sporting arena. In this clash of politics and United Kingdom.54 Britain no longer lobbied internation- sport, sport won. al sporting bodies for Rhodesia’s expulsion. Although the Rhodesia took home twelve medals from Heidelberg, International Olympic Committee would eventually ex- including three gold. A new generation of Rhodesian Par- clude the Rhodesian Olympic team from the 1972 Mu- alympians were successful on the field: Sandra James of nich Games, this was done in the face of boycott threats took home two gold, two silver, and a bronze and protest from African and Middle Eastern nations and in swimming and field sports, the most successful of Rho- West German officials. Since Africa for the most part did desia’s team of thirteen. Considering that she was isolat- not compete in the Paralympics, and the West German ed in Bulawayo as the only athlete in her category (class Government sought to avoid controversy, the Rhodesian 1A) and had no competition before the Games and no team competed at Heidelberg even as it was excluded trainer to assist her in Heidelberg, James’s victories were from Munich. impressive indeed. She had not medaled in Tel Aviv, two “Paraplegic Games are an entirely different matter” years after her first disabled sport competition in the from the Olympics, wrote an FCO official. “It would be 1966 South (like Rhodesia, South Africa wrong to bring cripples into the political arena.”55 The was suspended from the Commonwealth and ineligible West German government used a loophole in the man- to participate in the Commonwealth Games in Kingston, datory United Nations sanctions on Rhodesia, exempting Jamaica). To the Bulawayo Chronicle, James comment- humanitarian aid. The Rhodesians could be admitted to ed on the tremendous hospitality the team enjoyed: “We West Germany on “humanitarian” grounds. were given a very friendly welcome and seemed to get the biggest cheer at the official opening ceremony.” She re- “The [German] Foreign Ministry on the whole seem called of her performances, “I was watching the others ready to risk any political unpleasantness that might before me and they were throwing so far that I thought arise [...]; they think that it would anyway only be slight, I would never get near them,” as she won gold in jave- since the only African countries participating in the Par- lin, silver in shot put, and bronze in discus. The victim of aplegic Olympics are Uganda and .”56 childhood polio, James was very excited about the next Paralympic Games in Toronto, Canada.59 Here again, The British discouraged organizing officials to allow politics intervened. use of the Rhodesian flag or anthem, and refused to al- Rhodesia did not compete in the 1976 Paralympics in low the Rhodesian team to participate as a contingent of Toronto, and the reasons for this must remain specula- the team from the United Kingdom. If Rhodesia’s Para- tive. It is possible but unlikely that the Canadian gov- lympic participation should spark controversy, the Brit- ernment refused to allow the team to compete. Only two ish wanted to spare themselves. After a phone call to Sir weeks before the opening of the Toronto Paralympics, Ludwig Guttmann, Paralympic organizers agreed to al- three Rhodesian delegates to the International Amateur

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Athletic Federation Congress held in Canada were de- tion that puts on the largest spectacle in the world of dis- nied entry visas.60 But the Canadian government did not ability sport. The Games have found a comfortable place interfere with the entry of the South African team, choos- alongside the Olympics, themselves the product of an ing instead to cancel a large grant to Paralympic organiz- idealistic myth that seeks to transcend division and work ers in protest of South African participation.61 It is also toward unity. Politics came late to the Paralympic Move- possible that the Paralympic organizers, jointly of the ment, which did not have to wrestle with the great Cold ISMGF and ISOD, chose not to invite Rhodesia, or act- War controversies that dogged the Olympics, at least in ed against Rhodesian participation, but again organizers part because the developing world was underrepresent- refused to prevent South Africa’s team from competing, ed due to the persistence of a “disability divide” and so- despite the boycott of a handful of teams before and dur- cial attitudes toward people living with a disability. Gutt- ing the Games in protest. Guttman even led the ISMGF mann’s idealism and the medical-humanitarian origins of to adopt a rule allowing the expulsion of any nation that Paralympism placed the Movement above overt politi- played politics, not sport, at the Paralympics.62 South Af- cal maneuvering. That idealism has become the Paralym- rica sent a 38-member team, which included eight black pic founding myth, which continues to infect the modern Africans, a tremendous achievement in a country that organization. The diplomacy that flowed from Rhode- refused to send multiracial teams abroad until the early sia’s participation the Paralympics illustrates how even 1970s.63 Instead, the most likely scenario is that the Rho- the highest levels of diplomacy hesitated to politically desians themselves decided not to send a team, or were threaten the movement. The Rhodesian Paralympic team financially unable to; by 1976, the guerrilla war that led survived the international isolation of the country’s polit- to the independence of Zimbabwe in 1980 was in full ical regime and the rest of the Rhodesian sporting sphere swing. It is possible that internal, rather than internation- because of the space opened up by Guttmann’s charis- al, politics kept Rhodesia away in 1976. matic vision and the commitment of the hospital staff at During the period of white settler rule, Rhodesia’s Par- Stoke Mandeville. ■ alympic team was among the strongest in the world, even if the social divisions in the country and the highest levels Notes: of international diplomacy threatened the team’s legacy. 1 Scruton, J. Stoke Mandeville: Road to the Paralympics, Aylesbury, Zimbabwe returned to the Paralympics in 1980 after an UK: Peterhouse Press, 1998. Ch. 4, np. eight-year absence, sending a small team to Arnhem, the 2 Guttmann, L. “Editorial Introduction: Reflections on the Olympiad of the Paralyzed”. Official Report: 1964 International Stoke Man- Netherlands. Although the Zimbabwean women’s hock- deville Games for the Paralyzed in Tokyo. 1964, p. 5. IPC Docu- ey team would win gold at the Moscow Olympics, gold mentation Center. medals eluded the Paralympic team in Arnhem. The Par- 3 Harriman, M. “Looking Back,” ISMWSF News, No. 5, Sept.-Dec. alympic team took home seven silver and four bronze in 2003, p. 14-15. Accessed online, http://www.wsw.org.uk/letters/ 1980; its streak continued to decline, winning one silver Issue%205.pdf [Nov. 9, 2006]. and two bronze in 1984. Eventually, Zimbabwe’s Para- 4 “Margie Blazes Disabled Trail,” Dispatch Online, Oct. 14, 1999. Online at: www.dispatch.co.za/1999/10/14/sport/margie.htm [Ac- lympic glory would return. cessed July 3, 2006]. At the 2000 Sydney Paralympics, Elliot Mujaji, 5 Records of medal counts from International Paralympic Committee a worker at Shabanie Mine, ran the 100-meter race in Documentation Center, , Germany. 11.32 seconds, winning gold. Despite growing up play- 6 Strack, H. Sanctions: The Case of Rhodesia. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse ing football, Mujaji realized his talent for sprinting in University Press, 1978. high school. The legendary Artwell Mandaza, a member 7 Ibid, p. 218. of the ill-fated 1972 Munich Olympic team, coached Mu- 8 Crawford, J. Constraints of Elite Athletes with Disabilities in Ken- jaji, helping him train for what might have been a future ya. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Olympic career. However, disaster struck: his right arm 2004, p. 27-48. had to be amputated after an accident with a live electri- 9 Weber, M. Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociol- cal wire. He believed his Olympic dream had ended, but ogy, Vol. 1. Edited by G. Roth and C. Wittich. London: University of California Press, 1978. he could not give up sport, choosing to continue his pro- 10 Cantelon, H. and L. McDermott, ‘Charisma and the Rational-Le- fessional training. His gold medal was the first ever won gal Organization: A Case Study of the Avery Brundage-Reginald by a Paralympian in independent Zimbabwe. Four years Honey Correspondence Leading Up to the South African Expul- later, in Athens in 2004, he repeated his gold-medal feat, sion from the International Olympic Movement’. Olympika: The this time in only 11 seconds.64 International Journal of Olympic Studies, 10 (2001): 33-58. Quot- ed, p. 37, 41. 11 See, for instance, Llewellyn Smith, M. Olympics in Athens 1896: Conclusion The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile The charismatic vision of Sir Ludwig Guttmann guid- Books, 2004; MacAloon, J.J. This Great Symbol: Pierre de Couber- ed the Paralympic Movement from its birth at the Stoke tin and the Origins of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Uni- Mandeville Hospital in the United Kingdom through its versity of Chicago Press, 1981. humble origins and into the Paralympic Movement. To- 12 Sainsbury, T. Paralympics: Past, Present, and Future: Univer- sity Lecture on the Olympics [online article]. : Centre day, the Paralympics are a multilateral sporting institu-

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d’Estudis Olimpics (UAB). International Chair in Olympism (IOC- 37 “Paralympics Opened,” Rhodesia Herald, Sept. 20, 1960, p. 20. UAB). http://olympicstudies.uab.es/lectures/web/pdf/sainsbury. 38 Scruton, 1998, op.cit., Ch. 16, np. pdf, p. 5 39 “Paralympics duo left to fend for themselves,” Rhodesia Herald, 13 Guttmann, op. cit., p. 5. Sept. 24, 1960. 14 Llewellyn Smith, 2004, op.cit.; Cantelon and McDermott, 2005, 40 Scruton, 1998, op.cit., Ch. 9, np. op.cit. 41 “Rhodesian Paraplegic Games Team Needs Help.” Rhodesia Her- 15 See Scruton, 1998, op.cit., Ch. 16, np. ald, Oct. 9, 1964, p. 27. 16 Guttmann, op. cit. 42 Bircher, T. “The Rhodesian Paraplegic Team leaves for Tokyo,” 17 Scruton, 1998, op. cit., Ch. 16, np. Rhodesia Herald, Nov. 2, 1964, p. 18. 18 Cantelon and McDermott, op.cit.; Soldatow, S. Politics of the Ol- 43 Pentland-Smith, G. “Message from Rhodesia.” Official Report: The ympics. Sydney, Australia: Cassell, 1980. 1964 International Stoke Mandeville Games for the Paralyzed in Tokyo. Stoke Mandeville Games Committee, 1964. IPC Documen- 19 McLarty, S. The Paralympioc Movement: The Transforming Identi- tation Centre. ty of Competitive Disability Sport, unpublished undergraduate the- sis. McMaster University: Hamilton, Ontario, 2003. 44 Scruton, J. “Operation Tokyo!” Official Report: The 1964 Interna- tional Stoke Mandeville Games for the Paralyzed in Tokyo. Stoke 20 Scruton, 1998, op. cit., Ch. 16, np. Mandeville Games Committee, 1964. IPC Documentation Centre. 21 See McLarty, op. cit., p. 17-19. 45 Bircher, T. “Rhodesia has won six gold medals at Paralympics.” 22 Scruton, 1998, op. cit., Ch. 16, np. Rhodesia Herald. Nov. 11, 1964. 23 McLarty, op.cit., p. 18; Scruton, 1998, op.cit., Ch. 16, np. For a 46 “No Archery for Lynn at the Tokyo Paralympics.” Rhodesia Her- general overview, see DePauw, K. and S. Gavron, Disability Sport, ald, Oct. 20, 1964, p. 16. Leeds, UK: Human Kinetics, 2005. 47 Scruton, 1998, op. cit. Ch. 16, np. 24 IPC Constitution, quoted in “Integration,” informational handout 48 Telegram, Hadow in Tel Aviv to London, 1 March 1968, FCO distributed by IPC Documentation Centre, Bonn, Aug. 2005. 36/317. British National Archives. 25 Sainsbury, op.cit., p. 15 49 Ibid. 26 Kaarsholm,P. “Si Ye Pambili: Which Way Forward? Urban Devel- 50 Memorandum to Faber, 5 March 1968, FCO 36/317. Unknown au- opment, Culture and Politics in Bulawayo.” Sites of Struggle: Es- thor. British National Archives. says in Zimbabwe’s Urban History. B. Raftopoulos and T. Yoshiku- ni, eds. Harare: Weaver Press, 1999, p. 237. Ranger, T. “Pugilism 51 Note, A.D. Brightly to Faber, 13 Feb. 1968, FCO 36/317. British and Pathology: African Boxing and the Black Urban Experience National Archives. in Southern Rhodesia.” Sport in Africa: Essays in Social History. 52 Huberman, G. The 17th Annual Stoke Mandeville Games in Israel. Mangan, Baker, eds. London: Africana Publishing, 1987. Official results book. International Stoke Mandeville Games Fed- 27 Stuart, O. ‘Players, Workers, Protestors: Social Change and Soccer eration: 1968. in Colonial Zimbabwe’. In Sport, Identity and Ethnicity, edited by 53 Telephone message, taken by A.R.M. Barber from Green, about J. MacClancy. : Berg, 1996. a conversation with Joan Scruton, 20 March 1972, FCO 36/1295. 28 Cheffers, J. A Wilderness of Spite: Rhodesia Denied. New York: British National Archives. Vantage Press, 1972. See also, Kennedy, P. ‘Rhodesian Track and 54 Letter, P.R.A. Mansfield to Fingland, 30 March 1972, FCO 36/1295. Field 1970’, unpublished article, Brundage Papers, University of British National Archives. Illinois. 55 Ibid. 29 Little, C. ‘Preventing “A Wonderful Breakthrough for Rhodesia”: 56 Letter, S. Lambert to A.K. Mason, 25 April 1972, FCO 36/1295. The British Government and the Exclusion of Rhodesia from the British National Archives. 1968 Mexico Olympics’. Olympika: The International Journal of Olympic Studies 14 (2005): 47-68. 57 Memo, A.R.M. Barber to A.K. Mann, 17 July 1972, FCO 36/1295. British National Archives. 30 Strack, op. cit., p. 226. 58 Letter, P.R.A. Mansfield to H. Smedley, 27 July 1972, FCO 36/1295. 31 See Novak, A. “Rhodesia’s ‘Rebel and Racist’ Olympic Team: British National Archives. Athletic Glory, National Legitimacy and the Clash of Politics and Sport,” International Journal of the 23 (8) Dec. 59 “City Woman Surprised at Winning Medals,” Bulawayo Chronicle, 2006, 1269-1388. Information about the team came from articles in 17 Aug. 1972. the Bulwayo Chronicle and the Rhodesia Herald. 60 “IOC May Still Rap African Boycott,” Bulawayo Chronicle, 20 July 32 IOC Investigating report, 23 Oct. 1974, British Olympic Associa- 1976, p. 1. tion Library. See also, IOC Meeting Minutes, June 1974, IOC Doc- 61 “New Headache for Montreal,” Bulawayo Chronicle, 6 Aug. 1976, umentation Centre. p. 12. 33 Peresuh, M. and L. Barcham, ‘Special Education Provision in Zim- 62 “S.A. Disabled Team had Fine Tally,” Bulawayo Chronicle, 13 babwe”, British Journal of Special Education 25(2) 1998: 75. Aug. 1976, p. 21. 34 Ibid. 63 “ Pull Out--Again,” Rhodesia Herald, 10 Aug. 1976, p. 14. 35 Mpofu, E. ‘Rehabilitation an international perspective: A Zimba- 64 Records, International Paralympic Committee, Bonn. See also, “Ol- bwean Experience.” Disability and Rehabilitation 23(11) 2001: ympics: From the Depths of Despair to Olympic Gold,” Zimbabwe 481-489. p. 482. Standard, May 21, 2001. Access archives via allafrica.com or lexis- 36 “Rhodesian team of two off to Paralympics tonight,” Rhodesia Her- nexis.com (subscription required). ald, Sept. 14, 1960, p. 23.

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