Gwen Buck BEM (1929–13 February 2005) was a British Paralympic athlete who competed in several sporting disciplines. She won gold medals in table tennis, lawn bowls, and swimming, and entered several athletics events across four

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 ...

Personal life

Gwen Buck was born in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, Surrey (now London), in 1929. She was going over a level crossing on her bicycle in 1943 when she was struck by a lorry. The accident left her with a broken back and a severed spine, and she would remain in St Peter's Hospital in Chertsey for several years. On transfer to

Stoke Mandeville Hospital Stoke Mandeville Hospital is a large National Health Service (NHS) hospital located on the parish borders of Aylesbury and Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire, England. It is managed by Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust. It was established i ...

in 1946 she met

Ludwig Guttmann Sir Ludwig Guttmann (3 July 1899 – 18 March 1980) was a German-British neurologist who established the Stoke Mandeville Games, the sporting event for people with disabilities (PWD) that evolved in England into the Paralympic Games. A Jewis ...

who helped Buck learn to become independent as a wheelchair user. While there she developed a love for competitive sport, in particular table tennis, and she soon began competing in the

Stoke Mandeville Games Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

. Buck moved to

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

to attend college and train as a drawing officer tracer. She returned to Richmond, finding employment with the Ministry of Works. She met future husband and fellow wheelchair user John while there, and they married in 1951. The couple retired to

Stoke Mandeville Stoke Mandeville is a village and civil parish in the Vale of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located three miles (4.9 km) from Aylesbury and 3.4 miles (5.5 km) from the market town of Wendover. Although a separate civil p ...

and John died in 1981. She died on 13 February 2005. Alongside her own sporting accomplishments, Buck was always keen to encourage young people to participate. She was also consulted on the design of the Stoke Mandeville Stadium.

Sporting career

Buck's love of competitive sport was nurtured at Stoke Mandeville Hospital and she became a regular participant in the Stoke Mandeville Games. By the early 1960s she was representing Great Britain at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

and the Paralympic Games. At the 1964 Games in Tokyo, Buck partnered with

Susan Cunliffe-Lister, Countess of Swinton Susan Lilian Primrose Cunliffe-Lister, Dowager Countess of Swinton, Baroness Masham of Ilton, (''née'' Sinclair; born ) is a crossbench member of the House of Lords. She is the senior life peer. She is Vice President of the Snowdon Trust, f ...

in the Women's Doubles B Table Tennis event, winning the gold medal. At the 1968 Games in Tel Aviv she spread out into a variety of other sports including lawn bowls, swimming, and three field athletics disciplines: discus, javelin, and shot put. She won gold in both the women's pairs and singles lawn bowls as well as the 25m backstroke swim. Her final gold medal came at the 1972 Games in Heidelberg for the women's pairs lawn bowls, and went on to gain further medals in 1976 before retiring for competitive sport. Buck was awarded the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...

in the early 1970s and also received the Sportswoman of the Year award from the Sports Writers Guild.

References

External links

Stoke Mandeville Games Roll of Honour
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buck, Gwen 1929 births 2005 deaths Sportspeople from Richmond, London Paralympic athletes for Great Britain Paralympic lawn bowls players for Great Britain Paralympic swimmers for Great Britain Paralympic table tennis players for Great Britain Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Paralympics Lawn bowls players at the 1968 Summer Paralympics Lawn bowls players at the 1972 Summer Paralympics Lawn bowls players at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 1964 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 1968 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 1972 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1972 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Paralympics English female bowls players Paralympic medalists in table tennis Paralympic medalists in lawn bowls Paralympic medalists in swimming English female discus throwers English female javelin throwers English female shot putters British female backstroke swimmers Recipients of the British Empire Medal Wheelchair discus throwers Wheelchair javelin throwers Wheelchair shot putters Paralympic discus throwers Paralympic javelin throwers Paralympic shot putters