Antony "Tony" John Sainsbury

OBE 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 ...

has been the

chef de mission In diplomatic usage, head of mission (HOM) or chief of mission (COM) from the French "chef de mission diplomatique" (CMD) is the head of a diplomatic representation, such as an ambassador, high commissioner, nuncio, chargé d'affaires, permanent ...

of the British Paralympic team at five

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 ...

, and was the chef de mission of the

Independent Paralympic Athletes Team at the 2016 Summer Paralympics The Independent Paralympic Athletes Team, a team consisting of refugee and asylee Paralympic athletes, competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. Its creation was announced on 5 August ...

Career

Tony Sainsbury has been the

of the British Paralympic team at five

. In 1995, Sainsbury was awarded an

for "services to sport for disabled people", and he has also received the Paralympic Order. Sainsbury has been an honorary Vice-President of the British Paralympic Association, and has also worked as the Director of Sport at the University of Manchester. In the 1970s he was a member of the Manchester Disabled Athletes sports club. 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 ...

in Seoul, Sainsbury was appointed the Vice-President of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation. Sainsbury was also the Athletes' Village Manager for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, during which time he said that "the Paralympics which were formed in London in 1948 were coming back home to the country it all started", and that he expected the atmosphere at the Athletes' Village to be "focused and low-key". He was also the general manager of the athletes' village for the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

in Glasgow, and in February 2016, he spoke at an event commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the formation of the

National Paralympic Committee of Azerbaijan Republic National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

. In August 2016, Sainsbury was announced as the chef de mission for the

; the team comprised S10 swimmer

Ibrahim Al Hussein Ibrahim Al Hussein (born 23 September 1988) is a Syrian Paralympic swimmer who represented the Independent Paralympic Athletes Team at the 2016 Summer Paralympics and resides in Greece. He competed in the S9 50 m and 100 m freestyle events and ...

and T37 discus thrower Shahrad Nasajpour. Speaking at the announcement of the Independent Paralympic Athletes team, Sainsbury said that "These athletes will help to raise awareness of the plight of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers who make difficult decisions and journeys, often with impairments."

Publications

Sainsbury wrote a 1998 publication to the British Olympic Academy about the history of disabled sport. The publication included mentions of the founding of the

Comité International des Sports des Sourds Comité International des Sports des Sourds (CISS) is the apex body organizing international sports events for the deaf, particularly the Deaflympics (previously called World Games for the Deaf). It is also called the International Committee of Sp ...

(CISS) in 1924, which lead to the

1924 Summer Deaflympics The First International Silent Games (french: Premiers Jeux Silencieux Internationaux), or First International Games for the Deaf (french: Premiers Jeux Internationaux pour les Sourds), now referred to retroactively as the 1924 Summer Deaflympics ...

. Sainsbury also reviewed the Olympic and Paralympic athlete villages from 1988 to 2000; Sainsbury said that the sales at the 1988 Paralympics had surprised locals, who had expected that the Paralympic supporters "had no buying power and would be more of a nuisance". He rated the facilities for the athletes 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 as "exceptional" and the best prior to the

2000 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 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. Sainsbury questioned the organisation of 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 ...

in Atlanta. He reviewed the 2000 Paralympics venues as outstanding, due to the support of the local population and ticket sales.

References

{{reflist, 30em British sports executives and administrators Great Britain at the Paralympics Members of the Order of the British Empire Academics of the University of Manchester