Bruce Wallrodt, (26 September 1951 – 2 July 2019) was an Australian Paralympic athlete. He competed at five Paralympic Games and won nine medals, four of them gold.

Personal

Wallrodt was born on 26 September 1951 in the

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

n city of Bunbury. He attended South Bunbury Primary School and Newton Moore Senior High School. After leaving school, he worked as a fitter and turner until the age of 29, when he had a spinal haemorrhage that left him

paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural ...

. Wallrodt died on 2 July 2019 at the age of 67.

Career

52 ACPS Atlanta 1996 Field Bruce Wallrodt

Bruce Wallrodt throwing discus at 1992 Paralympics

In the

1988 Seoul Games The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, Wallrodt won two gold medals in the Men's

Shot Put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

2 and the Men's

Javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...

2 events, and a bronze medal in the Men's Discus 2 event. At the 1990 World Championships and Games for the Disabled in Assen,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

he won gold medals in the Men's Shot Put and Discus F4 events. At the

1992 Barcelona Games The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

, he won a gold medal in the Men's Javelin THW4 event (for which he received a Medal of The Order of Australia), and two silver medals in the Men's Discus THW4 and the Men's Shot Put THW4 events. Going into the 1992 Games, he was a world record holder in discus, javelin and shot put. In the

1996 Atlanta Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, he won a gold medal in the Men's Shot Put F53 event, in which he broke a world record, and a bronze medal in the Men's Javelin F53 event. In 2000, he received an Australian Sports Medal. He won a silver medal at the

2000 Sydney Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

in the men's shot put T54 event and came 4th in the Men's Javelin F54 – event. At the

2004 Athens Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, he came fifth in both the Men's Javelin F54 and the Men's Shot Put F54 events.

References

External links