Rhodesia competed at the 1968 Summer Paralympics in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

from 4 to 13 November 1968. The team ranked eleventh out of the twenty-eight competing nations in the

medal table The Olympic medal table is a method of sorting the medal placements of countries in the modern-day Olympics and Paralympics. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not officially recognize a ranking of participating countries at the Olympic ...

and won a total of twenty medals; six gold, seven silver and seven bronze. Rhodesia competed at the Paralympics in 1968 and in 1972 despite being excluded from the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

in those years.

Disability classifications

The Paralympics groups athletes' disabilities into one of five disability categories;

amputation Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indi ...

, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness;

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensa ...

;

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories;

visual impairment Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

, including blindness; Les autres, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example

dwarfism Dwarfism is a condition wherein an organism is exceptionally small, and mostly occurs in the animal kingdom. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than , regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dw ...

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

. Each

Paralympic sport The Paralympic sports comprise all the sports contested in the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. As of 2020, the Summer Paralympics included 22 sports and 539 medal events, and the Winter Paralympics include 5 sports and disciplines and about ...

then has its own classifications, dependent on the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing.

Archery

Three of the Rhodesian delegation participated in archery events, none won a medal. Their best finish was sixth by Smit in the women's Albion round open, an event won by Margaret Harriman, who previously competed for

Rhodesia at the 1960 Summer Paralympics Rhodesia competed at the inaugural 1960 Summer Paralympics, Summer Paralympic Games in 1960 in Rome. It was the only African country to take part.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 ...

B; Gesina Smit won the silver medal in C classification women's javelin; Bronze medals were won by Avril Davis in the women's D shot put and by

Leslie Manson-Bishop Leslie may refer to: * Leslie (name), a name and list of people with the given name or surname, including fictional characters Families * Clan Leslie, a Scottish clan with the motto "grip fast" * Leslie (Russian nobility), a Russian noble famil ...

in the men's pentathlon.

Dartchery

The only dartchery event at the Games was the mixed pairs event which took a knockout format. The Rhodesian pair of

Glynn Griffiths Glynn () is a small village and civil parish in the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council area of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies a short distance south of Larne, on the shore of Larne Lough. Glynn had a population of 2,027 people in ...

and George Mann was defeated in the first round by the Italian pair of Francesco Deiana and Raimondo Longhi.

Snooker

One

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

event was contested at the Games, the men's open event.

Keith Pienaar Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

entered for Rhodesia. He was eliminated at the quarterfinal stage, the first round of the competition, by

Aroldo Ruschioni Aroldo Ruschioni (born 1932) was an Italian paralympic multi-sport athlete who won six medals at the Summer Paralympics. See also * Italy at the 1960 Summer Paralympics Italy was the host country of the inaugural Paralympic Games in 1960 i ...

of Italy.

Michael Shelton Michael Shelton is a British sportsman who competed at the Summer Paralympic Games five times between 1960 and 1976 in snooker and other sports. He won six Paralympic medals, four gold, a silver and a bronze. He also won gold at the 1974 Com ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

won the gold medal.

Swimming

Rhodesian swimmers won fifteen medals in Tel Aviv, five gold, six silver and four bronze.

Sandra Coppard Sandra or SANDRA may refer to: People * Sandra (given name) * Sandra (singer) (born 1962), German pop singer * Margaretha Sandra (1629–1674), Dutch soldier * Sandra (orangutan), who won the legal right to be defined as a "non-human person" ...

and

each won two gold medals.

Notes

References

{{NPCin1968SummerParalympics Nations at the 1968 Summer Paralympics 1968 1968 in Rhodesia