Victor "Vic" Allen Renalson,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(1926/1927 – July 1998) was an Australian athlete, weightlifter, and track and field coach. He won ten medals at four Paralympics from 1964 to 1976, and worked as a track and field coach for both Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

Personal life

Renalson became a paraplegic after a car accident in 1951 at the age of 23. He was working as a

fitter and Turner A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who not only operates machine tools, but also has the knowledge of tooling and materials required to create set ups on machine tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling ...

and was driving to

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...

to work on a

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

plantation when the steering on his car failed near

Sarina Sarina is a rural town and coastal locality in the Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Sarina had a population of 5,522 people. Geography Sarina lies just inland of the east coast of Queensland, south of the city of Mackay, and a ...

. The car hit a bridge and he was thrown to a dry creek bed. He was married to Laurel, a former Queensland netballer and Australian walking champion, who died in 1992. He died in July 1998 on Queensland's Sunshine Coast at the age of 71.

Career

Renalson won medals in weightlifting at all four Paralympics from 1964 to 1976: a silver medal in the Men's Heavyweight event at the 1964 Tokyo Games, a gold medal in the Men's Heavyweight event at both the 1968 Tel Aviv and 1972 Heidelberg Games, and a gold medal in the Men's Middleweight event at the 1976 Toronto Games. He participated in athletics at three Paralympics from 1968 to 1976; in 1968 he won two gold medals in the Men's Club Throw A and Men's Discus A events, a silver medal in the Men's Javelin A event, and a bronze medal in the Men's Shot Put A event, and in 1972 he won a silver medal in the Men's Discus 3 event and a bronze medal in the Men's Precision Javelin open event. A lifelong member of the

Toowong Toowong is a riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Toowong had a population of 10,830 people. Geography Toowong is situated between Mount Coot-tha and the Brisbane River and is made up of rolling hills w ...

Harriers Club, he coached Olympians

Norma Croker Norma Croker Fleming (11 September 1934 – 21 August 2019) was an Australian sprinter. Croker was educated at Brisbane State High School. At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, she placed 4th in the individual 200 metres race ...

, Eric Bigby, and Pat Duggan. Bigby said of him: He was Australia's head track and field coach at the 1988 Seoul Paralympics, and worked with the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

as a satellite track and field coach from 1987 to 1993.

Recognition

Renalson was a finalist in the

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Sportsman of the Year award in 1968, and became 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 ...

in 1973 for services to sport and the community.

References