Anton James Flavel, OAM (born 3 May 1969) is an Australian athlete with an intellectual disability. He was born in the Western Australian town of Narrogin. In his disability class he held a world record for the javelin and an Australian record in the shot put and high jump. Competing at the 1st World Games for Athletes with an Intellectual Disability in

Härnösand Härnösand () is a locality and the seat of Härnösand Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden with 17,556 inhabitants in 2010. It is called "the gate to the High Coast" because of the world heritage landscape just a few miles north of H� ...

, Sweden, he won two gold medals in the Men's Javelin and the Men's Discus, and a bronze medal in the Men's Long Jump. At the 1992 Paralympic Games for Persons with mental handicap in Madrid, Spain, which were held immediately after the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics, he won a gold medal in the men's javelin, for which he received a

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

. He also won bronze medals in the Men's High Jump and Men's Discus. He was coached in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

by Hilda Collier. At the

IPC Athletics World Championships The World Para Athletics Championships, known as the IPC Athletics World Championships prior to 2017, are a biennial Paralympic athletics event organized by World Para Athletics, a subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). It ...

in the Men's Shot Put F20 , he won a gold medal in 1994 and a bronze medal in 1998. At the 2000 Sydney Games, he won a gold medal in the Men's Javelin F20 event, and came ninth in the Men's Shot Put F20 event. In 1997, he became the first intellectually disabled athlete to receive a residential scholarship from the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

(AIS) and was coached by Chris Nunn. The move to the AIS highlighted the more professional approach to training. In Perth, he was doing three sessions per week and at the AIS he was doing thirteen sessions. He left the AIS after the 2000 Sydney Games. In 2000, he received an

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

. He married Trish Flavel, who won a bronze medal in the Women's 800m T20 at the 2000 Sydney Games.

References

External links

Anton Flavel – Athletics Australia Results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flavel, Anton 1969 births Living people Paralympic athletes for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Intellectual Disability category Paralympic competitors Competitors in athletics with intellectual disability Australian Institute of Sport Paralympic track and field athletes Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Sportsmen from Western Australia People from Narrogin, Western Australia Australian male discus throwers Australian male high jumpers Australian male javelin throwers Australian male shot putters