Australia at the 1976 Summer Paralympics
IPC code	AUS
NPC	Australian Paralympic Committee
Website	www.paralympic.org.au
in Toronto
Medals Ranked 11th	Gold 16 Silver 18 Bronze 7 Total 41
Summer Paralympics appearances (overview)
1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024

Australia has participated in every Summer Paralympic Games since the inception of the Paralympics in the year 1960. The 1976 Paralympic Games in Toronto was Australia's fifth Paralympic Games. Australia competed in 10 out of the 13 sports and were able to win medals in six of these sports. There were 44 athletes representing Australia at the Games with a number of these athletes participating in multiple sports. Of the 44 athletes, 34 were males and 10 were females. As a team, Australia won 41 medals, 16 of which were gold. This placed it just outside the top 10 in 11th position at the end of the Games.^[1] The Australian team won more gold medals at the 1976 Paralympic Games than at any of the previous four Paralympic Games.^[2] 26 athletes finished on the podium in their respective events. This represents more than half the number of athletes that Australia sent to Toronto.^[3] Six world records were broken by Australian athletes on their way to winning their respective events.^[4]

Background

The 1976 Summer Paralympic Games was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from August 4–12. This was the first and only time that Canada has hosted a Summer Paralympic Games.^[5] The Games were not held in the same city as the Olympic Games of the same year, with the 1976 Olympic Games held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. At the time, the 1976 Summer Paralympics in Toronto was called the 'Torontolympiad'. The name 'Paralympic Games' was not officially adopted until 1984. The 1976 Summer Paralympics was the first time that amputees and visionally impaired athletes were invited to participate in the Paralympic Games. For the previous four Paralympic Games, participation was restricted to spinal cord injury athletes. Other disabilities – amputees, Cerebral Palsy, Intellectual Impaired and Vision Impaired – were unable to compete at the Paralympic Games. However, they had their own local and national competitions and, in some cases, their own world championships. Canadian athletes from each of disabilities, amputees, spinal cord injuries and visually impaired, lit the flame at the Opening ceremony at Woodbine Racecourse in front of 20 000 spectators.^[6] The inclusion of more disability categories and the introduction of new sports including Shooting and Goalball increased the number of medal events at the Paralympic Games.^[7] There were 13 sports in total at the 1976 Summer Paralympics, 8 of which women participated in. The 1976 Summer Paralympics was the first Games in which there was television coverage of the events. The performances were shown to a wide audience of viewers from the Southern Ontario region.^[8] There was however, no television coverage in Australia dedicated to the 1976 Paralympic Games.

Notable Performances

The top Australian athletes at the 1976 Paralympic Games were triple gold medallists, Eric Russell and Tracey Freeman and double gold medallist, Gail Nicholson.

• Eric Russell

Eric Russell won three Gold medals as well as a silver medal at his first Paralympic Games. Russell won the discus, shot put and the pentathlon events. He also competed in wheelchair basketball but did not win a medal as the team did not advance pass the group round stage. Russell won the Men's Discus 3 event with a world record throw of 27.15 metres. David Williamson of the United States placed second with a throw of 25.57 metres. Russell went on to compete at two more Paralympic Games, winning a total of 4 gold medals, 1 silver and 2 bronze throughout his career.^[4]

• Tracey Freeman

Tracey Freeman competed at her first Paralympics in 1972 and represented Australia for a second time in 1976. At the 1976 Paralympic Games, Freeman won a medal in 5 of the 6 events in which she competed in. Freeman competed in a number of track and field events including shot put, the javelin, discus and sprint races and achieved a world record for every event in which she won a gold medal. In 1972, Freeman became the first female athlete to win a gold medal for Australia in a track and field event at the Paralympic Games. She went on to win a total of six gold medals and four silver medals making her one of the most successful Paralympians of her time to represent Australia. Her performance in Toronto made her the most successful Australian athlete at the 1976 games. Freeman's incredible effort earned her the Queensland Sportswomen of the Year Award, the first time it has been given to a disabled athlete, and marked the end of her international career. Her career only spanned two Paralympics, as the injuries from a car accident thwarted her efforts to qualify for the 1980 Paralympics, but she won 10 medals, six of which were gold.^[9]

• Gail Nicholson

Gail Nicholson was the golden girl of the pool winning 2 gold medals in swimming events.^[4] Nicholson won the 100 metres freestyle event in world record time as well as the 100 metres backstroke event in a time of 1 minute 45 seconds.^[10]

• Vic Renalson

Vic Renalson had previously won medals at the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Summer Paralympics in the heavyweight division. His gold medal at the Toronto Games in the middleweight weightlifting event brought the total number of medals won in weightlifting events to 4, 3 gold medals and 1 silver medal. Renalson did not compete in any track and field events at the 1976 Paralympic games however, he had won 2 gold medals, 2 silver medals and 2 bronze medals in track and field events in previous games bringing the total number of medals won at the Paralympic Games to 10.^[4] After his retirement, Renalson would go on to become successful coach with the Australian institute of sport and at the Seoul Paralympic Games.

Controversies

Australian athlete Eric Russell with Ludwig Guttmann at the 1976 summer Paralympics

Prior to the start of the Games, there was controversy regarding the participation of the South African team. This was the first time that a political issue had caused a disruption to the Paralympics. A number of countries including Kenya, Sudan and Yugoslavia withdrew their athletes from the Games in protest to the participation of South Africa in the Games. Allowing South Africa into the Games was seen by these countries as agreeing to the apartheid policy implemented by the South African Government at the time.^[11] One of Australia's gold medal winners, Eric Russell entered into the controversy by refusing to accept his gold medal at the podium for winning the men's wheelchair discus event. He stated that this was in protest to politics playing a role in the Games itself.^[12] It was later reported that Russell had wanted to present the medal to Ludwig Guttmann, the founder of the Paralympic Games, but Guttman had refused to accept it. Guttman would later present the medal to Russell at a later date.^[13] The medal was then sold at an auction to a real estate agency to raise money for a Queensland rugby player.^[14] The last minute withdrawals caused havoc to the organisation of the Games as a result of rescheduling issues. There was a lack of communication between athletes and organisers in regards to event schedules as the organisers rushed to reschedule events for the next day's competition.^[15] The Australian wheelchair basketball team missed their group round match because of confusion over the match schedule. The match was later rescheduled to a later time however, the team was unable to make it pass the group round stage.^[16]

Team Selection

Paralympic movement founder Ludwig Guttmann with Australian Team leader Richard Jones at a function at the 1976 Paralympic Games

Qualifying for the 1976 Summer Paralympics for individual events took place at the National Wheelchair Games held in Brisbane earlier in the year.^[17] The games were sponsored by the Queensland Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association. Selection for team sports was made by the Australian Paraplegic and Quadriplegic Council with assistance from the state organisations.^[18] The federal government provided a number of grants to help cover the travel costs for the Australian national Paralympic team to go to Toronto for the games. These subsidies were small and most athletes were expected to pay their own way in order to compete.^[17] The Queensland Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association also provided financial support to athletes from Queensland who competed at the 1976 Paralympic Games.^[9]

Medalists

Medal Name Sport Event  Gold Wayne Patchett Athletics Men's Discus throw 1A  Gold Eric Russell Athletics Men's Discus throw 3  Gold Eric Russell Athletics Men's Shot put 3  Gold Eric Russell Athletics Men's Pentathlon 3  Gold Tracey Freeman Athletics Women's 60 m 1C  Gold Tracey Freeman Athletics Women's Javelin throw 1C  Gold Tracey Freeman Athletics Women's Shot put 1C  Gold Margaret Ross, John Kestel Dartchery Mixed pairs open  Gold Robert Farmer Lawn bowls Men's Singles A  Gold Eric Magennis, Bruce Thwaite Lawn bowls Men's Pairs wh  Gold Adele Jackson, Charmaine Smith Lawn bowls Women's Pairs B  Gold Elizabeth Richards Shooting Mixed rifle shooting 2-5  Gold Gail Nicholson Swimming Women's 100 m freestyle C  Gold Gail Nicholson Swimming Women's 100 m backstroke C  Gold Pauline English Swimming Women's 25 m butterfly 4  Gold Vic Renalson Weightlifting Men's middleweight  Silver Robert Faulkner Athletics Men's 100 m B  Silver Doug Rupe Athletics Men's High jump A  Silver Harry Moseby Athletics Men's Discus throw C1  Silver Eric Russell Athletics Men's Javelin throw 3  Silver John Kidd Athletics Men's Javelin throw 4  Silver Jago Mikulic Athletics Men's Javelin throw A  Silver Wayne Patchett Athletics Men's Shot put 1A  Silver Murray Todd Athletics Men's Shot put 2  Silver Tracey Freeman Athletics Women's Discus throw 1C  Silver Tracey Freeman Athletics Women's Slalom 1C  Silver Elaine Schreiber Athletics Women's Javelin throw 2  Silver James Handbridge Lawn bowls Men's Singles C  Silver Charmaine Smith Lawn bowls Women's Singles B  Silver John Hind Swimming Men's 25 m freestyle 2  Silver John Hind Swimming Men's 25 m butterfly 2  Silver John Hind Swimming Men's 75 m individual medley 2  Silver Lyn Michael Swimming Women's 25 m freestyle 2  Silver Lyn Michael Swimming Women's 75 m individual medley 2  Bronze Peter Marsh Athletics Men's 60 m 1A  Bronze Peter Marsh Athletics Men's Precision club throw 1A-1B  Bronze John Kestel Athletics Men's Javelin throw 2  Bronze Jago Mikulic Athletics Men's Pentathlon A  Bronze Roy Kubig Swimming Men's 50 m backstroke 3  Bronze Pauline English Swimming Women's 150 m individual medley 4  Bronze Terry Mason Weightlifting Men's light featherweight [4]

Medals by discipline Discipline Total Archery 0 0 0 0 Athletics 7 11 5 23 Dartchery 1 0 0 1 Lawn bowls 3 2 0 5 Shooting 1 0 0 1 Snooker 0 0 0 0 Swimming 3 5 2 10 Table tennis 0 0 0 0 Weightlifting 1 0 1 2 Wheelchair basketball 0 0 0 0 Wheelchair fencing 0 0 0 0 Total 16 18 8 42

Events

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1976 Summer Paralympics

Gold medal winner Wayne Patchett at the Olympic Ceremony of the 1976 Paralympic Games.

Australia represented by:
Men – Robert Faulkner, Wayne Flood, Paul Gianni, Dennis Kay, John Kestel, John Kidd, Stan Kosmala, Peter Marsh, John Martin, Terry Mason, Robert McIntyre, Jeff McNeil, Jago Mikulic, Harry Moseby, Richard Oliver, Wayne Patchett, Frank Ponta, Vic Renalson, Doug Rupe, Eric Russell Ross Soutar, Murray Todd
Women – Tracey Freeman, Elaine Schreiber^[4]

The Australian athletics' team won 23 medals, of which 7 were gold, 11 were silver and 5 were bronze medals.^[4]

Of the 16 gold medals won by Australia, 7 were won by the track and field team. The team consisted of 24 athletes who made up more than half of the total Australian team. Only two athletes were females while the remaining 22 were males. Outstanding performances were seen by a number of athletes including Tracey Freeman and Eric Russell who both won three gold medals each. Freeman won the wheelchair sprint, javelin and shot put, creating three world records in events for quadriplegics as well as picking up silver medals in the slalom and discus events. Wayne Patchett won the remaining gold medal in the Men's discus throw 1A event as well as a silver in the shot-put event.^[4]

Dartchery

Main article: Dartchery at the 1976 Summer Paralympics

Australia represented by:
Men – Roy Fowler, Jeff Heath, John Kestel
Women – Elizabeth Richards, Charmaine McLean, Margaret Ross^[4]

Australia won 1 gold medal - John Kestel and Margaret Ross in Mixed pairs open.^[4]

Rank Athlete(s) Country Victories  Gold J. Kestel & M. Ross Australia 5  Silver A. Kalenius & E. Korva Finland 4  Bronze A. Desal & A. Verhee Belgium 3 Australia competed in all three Dartchery team events. Roy Fowler and Jeff Heath competed in the men's pairs open event and placed 9th. Charmaine McLean and Elizabeth Richards represented Australia in the women's pair open event and finished last with no victories. John Kestel and Margaret Ross competed in the mixed pairs open event. They won all their games and as a result, placed first in their division. This gave Australia the only medal in Dartchery in the 1976 Summer Paralympics Games[4] Goalball Main article: Goalball at the 1976 Summer Paralympics In 1976, Goalball officially became a medal sport for the first time and was contested by men. Australia however, did not send a team to compete in the men's goal ball event.[4] Lawn Bowls Main article: Lawn bowls at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Australia represented by: Men – Robert Farmer, James Handbridge, Eric Magennis, Bruce Thwaite Women – Adele Jackson, Charmaine Smith[4] Australia won 5 medals - 3 gold and 2 silver medals.[4] Australia competed in six out of the 15 lawn bowls events at the 1976 games. Out of these six events, Australia won three gold medals and two silver medals. Eric Magennis and J. Handbridge came first in the men's pairs wheelchair event winning 4 games. Brazil and Great Britain both won 3 games each. J. Handbridge also won another medal in the Singles C event, this time, a silver medal with 3 victories. Robert Farmer won gold in his event, the Singles A while Bruce Thwaite and Eric Magennis finished 10th and 13th respectively in the Men's singles wheelchair event. The Australian women also performed very well in the lawn bowls events. Adele Jackson and Charmaine Smith competed together in the women's pairs B event and placed first, winning all their matches against Great Britain and Canada. They both also competed in the women's single B event with Smith winning a silver medal and Jackson finishing just outside the medals in 4th position.[4] Shooting Main article: Shooting at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Australia represented by: Men – Kevin Bawden, James Handbridge Women – Elizabeth Richards[4] Australia won 1 gold medal through Elizabeth Richard's performance in Mixed rifle shooting 2-5[4] Rank Athlete Country Points  Gold Elizabeth Richards Australia 547  Silver M. Stadler Switzerland 516  Bronze Y. Tam Israel 512 In the mixed rifle shooting events, males and females competed together in the same competition. There were three competitors from Australia who competed in two events. Elizabeth Richards won the gold medal in the mixed rifle shooting 2-5 division with 547 points. She was 33 points ahead of her nearest rival, Martin Stadler from Switzerland. Kevin Bawden also competed in the same event and placed 7th. J. Handbridge competed in the mixed rifle shooting amputee division and placed 13th.[4] Snooker Main article: Snooker at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Australia represented by: Men – Wayne Flood[4] Australia did not win a medal.[4] Wayne Flood was the sole representative of Australia in Snooker. He competed but did not advance to the final of his event.[4] Swimming Main article: Swimming at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Australia represented by: Men – Robert Faulkner, G. Green, John Hind, Roy Kubig, Brian Sullivan Women – Pauline English, Lyn Michael, Gail Nicholson[4] Australia won 10 medals - 3 gold, 5 silver and 2 bronze medals.[4] Australia's swimming team at the 1976 Games consisted of eight swimmers. The team won a total of 10 medals and placed 12th overall in the medal count with five of the eight swimmers winning medals. The Netherlands dominated the swimming events, by winning 36 gold medals and topping the medal tally.[19] Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 Netherlands 37 19 8 64 2 Israel 18 5 6 29 3 US 17 5 13 35 12 Australia 3 5 2 10 Gail Nicholson starred in the pool winning two gold medals in the Women's 100m freestyle C and Women's 100m backstroke C events. The 1976 Summer Paralympics was the only Paralympic Games in which Nicolson participated in. Pauline English won a gold medal in the women's 25m butterfly 4 event as well as a bronze in the 3x50m individual medley. She finished her Paralympic career with 1 gold medal and 3 bronze medals from two Paralympic Games. John Hind won three silver medals in his events and was the best performing male swimmer at the Games. Brian Sullivan made it to the final of the men's breaststroke and freestyle A events but did not medal. G. Green failed to make the final of two of the three events he competed in. No gold medals were won by the Australian male swimmers.[4] Table Tennis Main article: Table tennis at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Australia represented by: Men – Kevin Bawden, Wayne Flood, Ray Letheby, Peter Marsh, John Martin, Ross Soutar Women – Elaine Schreiber[4] Australia did not win any medals.[4] Australia was represented in the table tennis events by six male athletes and one female athlete. Elaine Schreiber placed fifth in the women's singles 2 event and tied with Peter Marsh and Ross Soutar who also finished 5th in their events as Australia's best performers in table tennis at the 1976 Summer Paralympics. Peter Marsh also competed in the men's doubles 1C event with Wayne Flood and placed 6th overall. Australia's other performers; Ray Letheby, Kevin Bawden and John Martin finished outside the medals in their respective events. As a result, Australia did not win any medals in table tennis at the Toronto Games[4] Volleyball Main article: Volleyball at the 1976 Summer Paralympics There were no Australian representatives in Volleyball events.[4] Weightlifting Main article: Weightlifting at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Australia represented by: Men – Terry Mason, Vic Renalson[4] Australia won 2 medals - gold medal by Vic Renalson and bronze medal by Terry Mason Men's medium weight division Vic Renalson won a gold medal in the men's middleweight competition, beating Aoudmond from France by 2.5 kilograms. In the process of winning, he also broke the world record. Renalson had previously won medals at the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Paralympics in the heavyweight division. His gold medal in Toronto brought his total number of medals won in weightlifting events to four, 3 gold medals and 1 silver medal. Renalson did not compete in any track and field events at the 1976 Paralympic games however, he had won 2 gold medals, 2 silver medals and 2 bronze medals in track and field events in previous games bringing the total number of medals won at the Paralympic Games to 10.[4] Rank Athlete Country Weight (kg)  Gold V. Renalson Australia 182.5 WR  Silver Auodmond France 180  Bronze R. Taurer US 160 4 M. Kelly Great Britain 152.5 5 F. Mus Belgium 145 Men's light featherweight division Terry Mason competed in the men's light featherweight division and won the bronze medal with a lift of 122.5 kg. This was 20 kg lighter than the gold medal lift by Shmuel Chaim Ovitch of Israel. Mason also competed in the pentathlon and javelin events but did not win any medals. He had previously won a bronze medal in the pentathlon event at the 1972 Paralympic Games bringing the total of medals won at the Paralympic Games to two.[4] Rank Athlete Country Weight (kg)  Gold S. Chaim Ovitch Israel 142.5  Silver J.M. Barberane France 130  Bronze T. Mason Australia 122.5 4 J. Martin US 117.5 5 V. Gaspar Brazil 110 Australia had no competitors in the other four weightlifting events: Men's featherweight, Men's heavyweight, Men's light heavyweight and Men's lightweight events. There were no women's weightlifting events at the 1976 Paralympic Games.[4] Wheelchair Basketball Main article: Wheelchair basketball at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Australia represented by: Men - Kevin Bawden, John Kidd, Stan Kosmala, Ray Letheby, John Martin, Robert McIntyre, Richard Oliver, Frank Ponta, Eric Russell, Victor Salvemini Coach - Les Mathews[20] The Australian men's team was allocated to Group D in the group round stage. Group D consisted of Sweden, Belgium, Brazil, the United States, Japan and Australia. Australia finished at the bottom of their group, winning only one match against Japan and losing the remaining four matches. As a result, the team was unable to advance to the next stage and finished the tournament with only one win. Israel and the United States competed in the final for the gold medal, with the US team winning the final by 13 points[4] Group D W L D Points US 5 0 0 10 Sweden 3 2 0 6 Belgium 2 2 1 5 Brazil 2 3 0 4 Japan 1 3 1 3 Australia 1 4 0 2 Australian results: Sweden 79 v Australia 51, Belgium 43 v Australia 30, United States 93 v Australia 34, Australia 57 v Japan 42. Australia did not qualify for the finals.[20] There was no Australian women's wheelchair basketball team at the 1976 Paralympic Games. Wheelchair fencing Main article: Wheelchair fencing at the 1976 Summer Paralympics There were no Australian competitors in any wheelchair fencing events at the 1976 Summer Paralympics[4] See also Australia at the Paralympics 1976 Summer Paralympics References ↑ "Media Guide: London 2012 Paralympic Games" (PDF). Clearlyhouse for sport. Australian Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 March 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2015. ↑ "Toronto 1976". London 2012 - Official Australian Paralympic Team. Australian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 29 September 2015. ↑ "Toronto 1976". London 2012 - Official Australian Paralympic Team. Australian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 28 September 2015. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 "Australian Results at 1976 Summer Paralympics". International Paralympic Committee Results Database. Retrieved 28 June 2012. ↑ "Toronto 1976". International Paralympic Committee. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 14 September 2015. ↑ Brittain, From Stoke Mandeville to Stratford, 121-122 ↑ "1976 Toronto". Inside the Games. Retrieved 16 October 2015. ↑ Cashman, Richmard; Darcy, Simon (2008). Benchmark Games. Benchmark Games. 1 2 Epstein, Vicki (2002). Step by Step We Conquer: The Story of Queensland's Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association. Keeaira Press. p. 22. ↑ "Australian Gold". Vol. 1, no. 4. Torontolympiad. 7 August 1976. ↑ Brittain, Ian (2011). The Toronto Paralympic Games 1976. Illinois: Commonground Publishing. pp. 35–46. ↑ "A gold medal refused". Vol. 1, no. 3. Torontolympiad. 6 August 1976. ↑ "Russell accepts medal from Sir Ludwig". Vol. 1, no. 4. Torontolympiad. 7 August 1976. ↑ Russell, Eric. "TIC TALK 011: Eric Russell". The Inclusion Club. The Inclusion Club. Retrieved 20 November 2019. ↑ "Meet Alan West". Vol. 1, no. 2. Torontolympiad. 5 August 1976. ↑ Bradburn, Jamie (7 June 2014). "Historicist: Torontolympiad '76". Torontoist. Retrieved 20 August 2015. 1 2 Betters 1979, p. 87 ↑ Betters 1979, p. 88 ↑ "Toronto 1976". Paralympic Games. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 7 August 2015. 1 2 "Paralympic Games 1960-1980" (PDF). Wheelchair can jump : a history of wheelchair basketball. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2012. Further reading Frank Ponta interviewed by Robin Poke in the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral history project, National Libraty of Australia, 2010 John Martin interviewed by Ian Jobling in the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral history project, National Library of Australia, 2012 Libby Kosmala interviewed by Nikki Henningham in the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral history project, Nationaal Library of Australia, 2010 Bibliography Betters, Kevin F. (1979). "The challenge of sport". Sport for the Handicapped. Australian Council for Rehabilitation of Disabled. pp. 86–88. OCLC 7574272.