Isabel Newstead, (''née'' Barr; 3 May 1955 – 18 January 2007) was a British

paralympic 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 ...

athlete who competed at seven consecutive

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 ...

from 1980 to 2004. Overall, Newstead won ten gold, four silver and four bronze medals in three different sports. She was inducted into the

Scottish Sports Hall of Fame The Scottish Sports Hall of Fame is the national sports hall of fame of Scotland, set up in 2002. It is a joint project organised by sportscotland, the national governmental body for Scottish sport, and National Museums Scotland. It is also funded ...

in 2008.

Career

Isabel Barr was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland. At the age of nineteen her spinal cord was damaged by a flu virus, which would eventually lead to

tetraplegia Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of motor and/or sensory function in the cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weakness or paralysis leading to partial or t ...

, partial or complete paralysis of all four limbs. Newstead had already competed at regional level before her illness and as part of her rehabilitation continued swimming. Whilst swimming with the Port Glasgow Otters Swimming Club she was noticed by the British paraplegic swimming team. Newstead moved to

Harlow Harlow is a large town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a new town, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire and London, Harlow occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the upp ...

, Essex in the late seventies to work as a systems analyst with Rank Hovis McDougall. At her first

1980 Summer Paralympics The 1980 Summer Paralympics ( nl, Paralympische Zomerspelen 1980), branded as the Olympics for the Disabled, were the sixth Summer Paralympic Games. They were held in Arnhem, Netherlands, from 21 to 30 June 1980. Background The Soviet Union, h ...

in Arnhem, Newstead won three gold medals in the swimming pool. At the

1984 Summer Paralympics The 1984 International Games for the Disabled, canonically the 1984 Summer Paralympics were the seventh Paralympic Games to be held. There were two separate competitions: one in Stoke Mandeville, England, United Kingdom for wheelchair athletes ...

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 ...

she won three golds and a silver medal in the pool. Most notably, Newstead also won a gold in the air pistol shooting event as well as silver medals in the shot put and discus events. Newstead did not compete in the swimming events at 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 ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

due to health challenges. However, she did win a silver medal in the

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 ...

and two bronzes in the air pistol and javelin events. She married John Newstead after the Seoul games, having previously competed as Isabel Barr. Newstead competed at the

1992 Summer Paralympics )( es, Deporte Sin Límites) , nations = 82 (BCN)75 (MAD) , athletes = 3,020 (BCN)1,600 (MAD) , opened_by = Queen Sofía , opening = 3 September (BCN)15 September (MAD) , closing = 14 September (BCN)22 September (MAD) , even ...

in Barcelona and the

1996 Summer Paralympics The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, were held from August 16 to 25. It was the first Paralympic Games, Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship, and had a budget of USD $81 million. It was the first Paralympic Games ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, though she did not win any medals. In Barcelona, an error by her coach led to her missing the final of one event, when she was in the lead after the preliminary rounds. In Atlanta, on the eve of the opening ceremony, Newstead fell from her wheelchair and required surgery on a broken hip. Undeterred, she completed her event but finished outside the medals. At the

2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

in Sydney, Newstead won Gold in the air pistol SH1 category. She defended her title four years later at the

2004 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 136 , athletes = 3,806 , events = 519 in 19 sports , opening = 17 September , closing = 28 September , opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos , cauldron = Georgios Toptsis , stadium = Olympic ...

in Athens, setting a world-record score. In The

New Year Honours 2001 The 2001 New Year Honours List is one of the annual New Year Honours, a part of the British honours system, where New Year's Day, 1 January, is marked in several Commonwealth countries by appointing new members of orders of chivalry and recipient ...

Newstead was appointed a

Member 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 ...

for ''services to Disabled Sport''. In 2006 Newstead was diagnosed with cancer and died in January 2007. She was in the process of training to defend her shooting title in Beijing and learning

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

Awards

Inducted into Scottish Women in Sport Hall of Fame in 2018.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Newstead, Isabel 1955 births 2007 deaths Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Paralympics British female sport shooters Medalists at the 1980 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Paralympic shooters for Great Britain Paralympic athletes for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Paralympic swimmers for Great Britain Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Paralympic medalists in shooting Scottish female athletes Scottish female sport shooters Scottish female swimmers Swimmers at the 1980 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Shooters at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Shooters at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Shooters at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Shooters at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Paralympic medalists in swimming People with tetraplegia Sportspeople from Glasgow Wheelchair users

Career

Awards

See also

References

External links