Also known as the 13th Stoke Mandeville Games, the 1964 Summer Paralympics was the 2nd Paralympic Games. Hosted in Tokyo, the games ran from 8 to 12 November. Australia won a total of 30 medals (12 gold, 11 silver, and 7 bronze) and finished fourth on the medal tally behind Italy (3rd), Great Britain (2nd) and the United States (1st). Australia competed in 6 of the 9 sports at the Games, winning medals in each of those sports, but was most successful in the pool, winning a majority of their medals in swimming events.

Background

Prior to the 1964 Paralympic Games, some of the athletes competed in the 1962 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Perth whilst others competed in the Third 'National Paraplegic Games' in Adelaide in order to qualify for the Paralympic Games.

There was no selection process for the venue of the 1964 Paralympic Games, it simply went to the city that had hosted the Olympics as it had 4 years ago in Rome (1960). Also there is no record of a Paralympic flame or mascot at these games.

The Australian team left Sydney for Tokyo on 5 November 1964, comprising 25 athletes, staff and others, having conducted final preparations and briefing at Prince Henry's Hospital. On 7 November, the team attended a reception hosted by the Governor of Tokyo Dr Royotaro Ayuimo.Australian Paraplegic Vol.3 No. 4, December 1964, pp.7, 9 The opening ceremony was held the following day, involving 375 competitors and 144 medal events in 9 sports.

Australians encountered two issues at the games, the first being the weather and the second was the timing of the games. On the first day athletes faced bitterly cold headwinds which effected the discus, shot put and javelin events causing the events to be restarted. Timing was also tight, as the games only lasted a total of four and a half days. This made for a very busy schedule for athletes competing in multiple events. However, despite these issues the games were given a glowing review by members of the Australian Paralympic team. The events were well organised and the athletes were treated with a sense of legitimacy and professionalism that had so far been absent from disability sport. One Australian athlete recalls, "At the village we [were] halted by a magnificent entrance welcoming us with flags, banners and posters for the Paralympics. It was clear that Japan had decided to show their visitors the hospitality and efficiency that she had shown the Olympic Visitors"."With the Australian Paraplegic Team in Tokyo,"The Australian Paraplegic 3, no.4 (1964), 9

Team

Australia sent 15 athletes to the 1964 Summer Paralympics.

The team members were: Athlete LocationBruce Thwaite (Team Captain) New South Wales Daphne Ceeney New South Wales Alan McLucas New South Wales Trevor French New South Wales John Martin New South WalesGary Hooper New South WalesElaine Schreiber VictoriaMichael Dow VictoriaVic Renalson Queensland Roy Fowler Queensland Marion O'Brien Western Australia Frank Ponta Western Australia Bill Mather-Brown Western Australia Lionel Cousens Western AustraliaElizabeth Edmondson Western Australia Reserves Location Miko Taminin Queensland J.Gidney New South Wales

Accompanying the team were 8 escorts, all with specific roles to play within the team:

– Dr George Bedbrook (Team Leader & Medical Officer)

– Johnno Johnston (Manager & Remedial Gymnast)

– Margaret Buzacott (Nurse)

– Kevin Betts (Attendant)

– Bill Gibbs (Attendant)

– K. Pinschers (Coach)

– Tim Timmermans (Coach)

– Cyril Thomas (Baggage Master)

Medalists

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Medal Name Sport Event Athletics Men's Wheelchair dash above T10 Athletics Women's Club throw A Swimming Men's 25 m Freestyle Prone Complete class 1 Swimming Men's 25 m Freestyle Supine Complete class 1 Swimming Men's 25 m Breaststroke Complete class 1 Swimming Men's 50 m Freestyle Supine Incomplete class 3 Swimming Men's 50 m Breaststroke Incomplete Class 3 Swimming Women's 50 m Freestyle Prone Complete class 5 Swimming Women's 50 m Freestyle Supine Cauda Equina Swimming Women's 50 m Breaststroke Cauda Equina Swimming Men's 25 m Freestyle Supine Complete class 2 Marion O'Brien Table Tennis Women's Doubles C Archery Men's St. Nicholas Round open , Roy Fowler, John Martin Archery Men's St. Nicholas Round Team Athletics Men's Wheelchair Relay above T10 Athletics Women's Javelin Throw A Athletics Women's Javelin Throw C Swimming Women's 50 m Freestyle Prone Complete class 5 Swimming Men's 25 m Freestyle Supine Complete Class 2 Weightlifting Men's Featherweight Weightlifting Men's Lightweight Weightlifting Men's Heavyweight Wheelchair fencing Men's Foil Novice Individual Archery Women's Albion Round Open Swimming Men's 50 m Freestyle Prone Incomplete lass 3 Swimming Women's 50 m freestyle Supine Cauda Equina Table Tennis Men's Singles A2 Table Tennis Women's Singles B Table Tennis Women's Singles C Wheelchair fencing Women's Foil Individual

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Medals by disciplineDisciplineTotalArchery0213Athletics2305Wheelchair fencing0112Swimming92213Table tennis1034Weightlifting0303Total1211730

Events

Archery

Gender Australia Represented By Men Lionel Cousens, Roy Fowler, John Martin, Alan McLucas, Trevor French Women Daphne Ceeney

Daphne Ceeney won bronze in the Women's Albion Round open with a score of 538. Roy Fowler won silver in the Men's St. Nicholas Round open with a score of 700. Lionel Cousens, Roy Fowler and John Martin won silver in the Men's St. Nicholas Round Team open with a score of 1995.

Athletics

Gender Australia Represented By Men Michael Dow, Gary Hooper, John Martin, Bill Mather-Brown, Frank Ponta, Vic Renalson Women Daphne Ceeney, Marion O'Brien, Elaine Schreiber

Bill (William) Mather-Brown (60m, Club Throw, Discus Throw, Precision Javelin, Javelin Throw, Shot Put, Slalom), 4x40m Relay? Frank Ponta (Club Throw, Discus Throw, Precision Javelin, Javelin Throw, Shot Put) 4x40m? Mike Dow (60m, Club Throw, Discus Throw, Javelin Throw, Shot Put, Slalom), 4x40m? John Martin (Club Throw, Shot Put) Vic Renalson (Discus Throw)

Marion O'Brien won a silver medal in the Women's Javelin C with a throw of 10.27 metres.

Elaine Schreiber won a gold medal in the Women's Club Throw A with a throw of 17.31 metres and won a silver medal in the Women's Javelin A with a throw of 9.26 metres.

Gary Hooper won a gold medal in the Men's Wheelchair Dash above T10.

Australia won a silver medal in the Men's Wheelchair Relay above T10.

Dartchery

Australia was represented by Roy Farmer and his partner with Lionel Cousens and Trevor French and his partner with John Martin.

Snooker

Australia did not compete in Snooker at the 1964 Summer Paralympics.

Swimming

Gender Australia Represented By Men Michael Dow, Trevor French, Roy Fowler, Gary Hooper, Alan McLucas, John Martin, Frank Ponta, Bruce Thwaite Women Daphne Ceeney, Elizabeth Edmondson

Coach Tim Timmerman

Trevor French won a silver medal in the Men's 25 m Freestyle Supine complete class 2 with a time of 31.6 seconds.

Daphne Ceeney won a silver medal in the Women's 50 m Freestyle Prone complete class 5 with a time of 40.1 seconds and she won a bronze medal in the Women's 50 m Freestyle Supine cauda equina with a time of 56.4 seconds.

Michael Dow won a gold medal in the Men's 50 m Freestyle Supine incomplete class 3 with a time of 49.7 seconds. He won another gold medal in the Men's 50 m Breaststroke incomplete class 3 with a time of 59.6 seconds. He also won a bronze medal in the Men's 50 m Freestyle Prone incomplete class 3 with a time of 50.9 seconds.

Frank Ponta won a gold medal in the Men's 25 m Freestyle Supine complete class 2 with a time of 30.0 seconds.

Elizabeth Edmondson was the youngest competitor at the games at the age of just 14 years old. Edmondson won a gold medal in the Women's 50 m Breaststroke cauda equina with a time of 1:04.6, a world record. She won a second gold medal in the Women's 50 m Freestyle Prone complete class 5 with a time of 39.7 seconds, a world record. And she won a third gold medal in the Women's 50 m Freestyle Supine cauda equina with a time of 50.8 seconds, another world record. At the conclusion of the 1964 Games, Edmondson's parents acknowledged that swimming had greatly helped their daughter, but felt that she needed to quit the sport and concentrate on her education because swimming would not provide her with standing in life. After the 1964 games, Edmondson returned home and prepared for school exams.

Roy Fowler won a gold medal in the Men's 25 m Breaststroke complete class 1 with a time of 45.6 seconds. He won a second gold medal in the Men's 25 m Freestyle Prone complete class 1 with a time of 38.3 seconds. He won a third gold medal in the Men's 25 m Freestyle Supine complete class 1 with a time of 41.0 seconds.

Table Tennis

Gender Australia Represented By Men Alan McLucas Women Daphne Ceeney, Marion O'Brien, Elaine Schreiber

Allan McLucas won a bronze medal in the Men's Singles A2.

Elaine Schreiber won a bronze medal in the Women's Singles B.

Marion O'Brien won a bronze medal in the Women's Singles C.

Daphne Ceeney and Marion O'Brien won a gold medal in the Women's Doubles C.

Weightlifting

Gender Australia Represented By Men Michael Dow, Gary Hooper, Bill Mather-Brown, Vic Renalson, Bruce Thwaite Weightlifting was the only completely new sport added to the Paralympics this year. Michael Dow won a silver medal in the Men's Featherweight with a lift of 95 kg.

Gary Hooper won a silver medal in the Men's Lightweight.

Vic Renalson won a silver medal in the Men's Heavyweight with a lift of 155 kg. Vic went on to compete in weightlifting and medal in 1968, 1972 and 1976 representing Australia in 4 consecutive Paralympic games.

Wheelchair basketball

Australia did not field a wheelchair basketball team at the 1964 Summer Paralympics.

Wheelchair fencing

Gender Australia Represented By Men Gary Hooper, Bill Mather-Brown, Frank Ponta Women Daphne Ceeney

Coach Mr K. Pinches.

Daphne Ceeney won a bronze medal in the Women's Foil Individual.

Frank Ponta won a silver medal in the Men's Foil Novice Individual.

Competition venues Although the games used the same village from the Olympic Games, most of the sporting facilities differed from those used in the Olympic Games. The National gymnasium and the National Gymnasium Annexe were the only venues used for both games. Overall, the sports were spread across seven venues. These included: Oda Field: (Athletics and the opening ceremony) National Gymnasium: (Snooker, Table Tennis and Weightlifting) National Gymnasium Annexe: (Indoor Basketball venue and closing ceremony) Basketball Venue (outdoor) Archery and Dartchery venue Tokyo Metropolitan Indoor Swimming Pool Fencing venue

Opening ceremony The opening ceremony was held on Sunday 8 November at 10.00 am on the 'Oda' Track and Field stadium. Emperor Akihito (who was the Japanese Crown Prince in 1964) and his wife Empress Michiko (who was the Japanese Crown Princess) attended the opening ceremony and officially opened the Games. The ceremony began with a colourful, flag-waving procession of 375 athletes across the represented 21 countries. This procession was led by a marching band of young Japanese girls. Speeches from the Crown Prince and other representatives transpired before Japanese swimmer Shigeo Aono took the athlete's oath. What followed was the release of hundreds of pigeons into the air. To conclude the opening ceremony, a demonstration of traditional Japanese fencing was undertaken by members of the Defence Force.

Closing ceremony