Caz Walton OBE (born Carol Bryant; 1 February 1947) is a British retired wheelchair athlete and former Great Britain Paralympic team manager. She was a multi-disciplinary gold medallist who competed in numerous

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

. Between 1964 and 1976 she won medals in athletics, swimming, table tennis, and fencing. She took a break from the Paralympics, entering the basketball and fencing competitions in 1988. In total Walton won ten gold medals during her Paralympic career, making her one of the most successful British athletes of all time. Walton should also have been awarded gold in the 1968 Tel Aviv Women's Pentathlon incomplete but, due to a miscalculation of her total score which went unnoticed at the time, she was given third place and a bronze medal.

Sporting career

Walton enjoyed a lengthy competitive career, winning medals in European, Commonwealth, and World Championships. She competed in a wide range of events, including athletics, table tennis, swimming, fencing, and basketball.

Paralympics

Walton began her Paralympic career at the

1964 Summer Paralympics The , originally known as the 13th International Stoke Mandeville Games and also known as Paralympic Tokyo 1964,

in Tokyo. She took part in two athletics events, the slalom and the wheelchair dash, winning gold in both. At the 1968 Games in Tel Aviv Walton competed in numerous track and field disciplines, the breaststroke and backstroke in swimming, and singles and doubles in table tennis. She won at least a silver medal in all three areas, finishing the Games with six medals three of which were gold. Walton's most successful Paralympics was the 1972 Games in Heidelberg. She won two gold and one bronze medal in the athletics events and gold in the table tennis singles. She entered the fencing event rather than the swimming, winning the novice foil individual event. At the 1976 Games in Toronto Watson entered similar events, winning bronze in athletics, table tennis, and fencing. For the

1988 Summer Paralympics The 1988 Summer Paralympics () were the first Paralympics in 24 years to take place in the same city as the Olympic Games. They took place in Seoul, South Korea. This was the first time the term "Paralympic" was used officially. Bidding proc ...

in Seoul, Walton opted to compete in the wheelchair basketball and fencing events. Great Britain did not progress beyond the preliminaries of the basketball having lost all four matches, but Watson achieved what would be her final medal when she won gold in the épée individual 4–6. This took her total to ten Paralympic gold medals. Walton retired from international competitions in 1994. She became the manager of Great Britain's Paralympic fencing team in 1996, reprising the role for the Games of 2000 and 2008. For the 2004 Games she was the team administrator for Great Britain.

Awards and accolades

In 1970 Walton received the Bill McGowran Trophy for Disabled Sports Personality of the Year from the

Sports Journalists' Association The Sports Journalists' Association (SJA) is an association for British sports journalists. It represents the British sports media on the British Olympic Association's press advisory committee and acts as a consultant to organizers of major events ...

. She was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the

2010 Birthday Honours The 2010 Birthday Honours for the Commonwealth realms were announced to celebrate the Queen's Birthday on 7 June 2010 in New Zealand, on 12 June 2010 in the United Kingdom, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Sai ...

for her services to disability sport.

References

External links

The history of the Paralympics
– photograph of Carol Bryant in winning a gold medal 1964 {{DEFAULTSORT:Walton, Caz 1947 births Living people British female wheelchair racers British female fencers British female swimmers British female table tennis players Officers of the Order of the British Empire Paralympic swimmers of Great Britain Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Paralympic table tennis players of Great Britain Paralympic athletes of Great Britain Medalists at the 1964 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1972 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 1968 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 1972 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair fencers at the 1972 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair fencers at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair fencers at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Recipients of the Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Paralympic medalists in table tennis Paralympic medalists in swimming Paralympic medalists in wheelchair fencing