Australia at the 1972 Summer Paralympics
| Australia at the 1972 Summer Paralympics |
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| IPC code | AUS | ||||||||
| NPC | Australian Paralympic Committee | ||||||||
| Website | www |
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| in Heidelberg | |||||||||
| Competitors | 30 in 9 sports | ||||||||
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Medals Ranked 11th |
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| Summer Paralympics appearances (overview) | |||||||||
Australia sent a team to compete at the 1972 Summer Paralympics in Heidelberg, West Germany. Australian won 25 medals - 6 gold, 9 silver and 10 bronze medals in six sports. Australia finished 11th on the gold medal table and 9th on the total medal table.
The Australian team was part of the largest ever gathering of Paralympians, the 22 male and 8 female competitors took their place among some 984 athletes from 43 nations. The Australian team departed Sydney July 27, 1972, had a three-day stopover in Hong Kong and arrived on Frankfurt on July 31. The city of Heidelberg suited the Australian contingent perfectly. The team enjoyed significantly better accommodation than the underground carpark they had inhabited in Tel Aviv and many were partial to the social happenings that centred on a large beer marquee erected in the athlete's village. This did not seem to affect their performances however with several athletes producing outstanding performances.
Notable Australian performances were:
Although the Paralympic Games were intended to be held at the same venue as the Olympics, the City of Munich’s plan to immediately convert the Olympic Village into residential housing meant they could not share the same venue. Walther Weiss, a member of the International Stoke Mandeville Games Committee, proposed the games be held in Heidelberg, as it coincided with the 15th anniversary of the introduction of modern rehabilitation practices within the state of Baden-Württemberg. The Institute of Physical Training of the University of Heidelberg was selected as the venue. This was the last time that the Paralympic games took place under the banner of the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation.
Expectations were strong for the Australian team entering the Heidelberg Paralympics. As a result of their success at the 1970 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games, finishing second to England and winning 32 gold and 103 total medals, Australia was ranked among the top five nations for Paralympic competition. However the standard of competition in the Paralympics was rapidly improving. At the midpoint of the games Australian team captain Dennis Kay said of the competition, "We thought we were coming out with a very strong team, but the rest of the world has made tremendous strides."
Various fundraising efforts were required to allow the Australian athletes to compete at Heidelberg. Among these fundraising efforts were exhibitions from the ‘Amazing Wheelchair Wizards’, who would challenge local darts teams to tournaments and put on displays of trick archery shooting.
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