Tommy Taylor was a British Paralympic athlete who won sixteen medals across five sports, including ten gold medals. Taylor was treated by

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 ...

after an accident in 1956 caused severe paralysis. He went on to compete at numerous Paralympic Games, finding particular success in

para table tennis Para table tennis is a parasports which follows the rules set by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The usual table tennis rules are in effect with slight modifications for wheelchair athletes. Athletes from disability groups can ...

from Rome 1960 to Arnhem 1980. Eight of Taylor's gold medals came in table tennis, along with one in snooker and one in

lawn bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...

Paralympics

Taylor attended the first Paralympic Games in Rome in 1960, competing in the para table tennis. He won gold in both the men's singles A and, with M. Beck, the men's doubles A. His table tennis successes continued at the 1964 Games in Tokyo as he defended the titles in the reclassified A2 doubles, again with Beck, and the A2 singles against his doubles partner in the final. In Tel Aviv in 1968 Taylor lost in the quarterfinals of the singles competition but won the doubles again, this time partnered with Stephen Bradshaw. Also at these Games he entered the men's pentathlon incomplete, finishing in third place and thus securing a bronze medal. At the 1972 Games in Heidelberg Taylor and Bradshaw lost against German competition in the semi-final, finishing in bronze medal position. Taylor did not compete for the singles title and instead entered the

archery competition Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

in a team which included fellow multiple-time Paralympian Jane Blackburn. The partnership of Taylor and Bradshaw returned to winning ways in 1976 in Toronto, while Taylor also entered and won the Men's Tournament A-C snooker. Taylor won the Men's 1B singles table tennis competition in 1980 at the Games in Arnhem, and still competing alongside Bradshaw, beat Austria by straight sets in the doubles final to secure another gold for their country, Taylor's final Paralympic table tennis medal. Taylor found other Paralympic successes in 1980, winning medals in a fifth sport: lawn bowls. He won a bronze medal in singles competition and, alongside David Cale, won gold in the Men's Pairs 1A-1B. Taylor's final successes at the Paralympics came in 1984 in the Games jointly hosted by Stoke Mandeville and New York. Entered in the Men's Singles Tetraplegic category lawn bowls he won a bronze medal. That was equalled in the Men's Tournament Tetraplegic snooker, Taylor's second medal in the sport.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Tommy Year of birth missing (living people) Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Place of birth missing (living people) Living people Medalists at the 1960 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 Medalists at the 1980 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in snooker Paralympic medalists in table tennis Paralympic medalists in archery Paralympic medalists in lawn bowls Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Paralympics Archers at the 1972 Summer Paralympics Snooker players at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Lawn bowls players at the 1980 Summer Paralympics Lawn bowls players at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 1960 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 Table tennis players at the 1980 Summer Paralympics Paralympic athletes for Great Britain Paralympic archers for Great Britain