Margaret Maughan (19 June 192820 May 2020) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

competitive

archer 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 ...

, dartcher and

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-gr ...

competitor. She was Britain's first gold medallist at the

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 impaired ...

, and won four gold and two silver medals at the Games. She lit the cauldron at the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

in London at the opening ceremony of the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Ga ...

Early life

Maughan was from

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

, England, and was one of four children. Her father was a miner. Maughan worked as a science teacher. Maughan was paralysed from the waist down and left unable to walk by a road accident in

Nyasaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate located in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasala ...

(now

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northe ...

) in 1959. After being in hospital in Nyasaland for two months, she returned to Britain and was treated at

Stoke Mandeville Hospital Stoke Mandeville Hospital is a large National Health Service (NHS) hospital located on the parish borders of Aylesbury and Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire, England. It is managed by Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust. It was established i ...

, where spinal injury unit founder

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 ...

pioneered the use of sport in therapy. There, she took up

archery 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 ...

and joined an archery club. The hospital had been the site of the Stoke Mandeville Games, a sports competition for wheelchair athletes which subsequently developed into the

. Maughan said that archery helped her to maintain balance in her wheelchair. She competed at the 1960 National Wheelchair Games. Maughan found gaining employment was difficult; although she was a qualified teacher it was assumed a woman in a wheelchair could not control a class of students. Prior to the accident, Maughan did not consider herself to be "sporty".

Paralympic career

Maughan was selected as part of Britain's delegation to the Ninth Stoke Mandeville Games, later known as the First Summer Paralympic Games, held in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1960. Maughan competed in only one archery event, the Women's Columbia round open. Scoring 484 points, she won Britain's first ever

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 ...

gold medal. Because of disorganisation in tracking the scores, she had to be taken from the coach heading back to the Olympic village to be presented with her prize. Maughan also took part in swimming, in the Women's 50 metre backstroke complete class 5. As she was the only competitor in the race, she won by completing the full 50 metres, with a time of 1:49.2. Wheelchair accessibility in transport and housing was not a major consideration at the time, and Maughan would later relate how she and her British teammates were moved onto the plane to Rome with forklift trucks. Once at the Games, Italian army soldiers had to be called in to carry them up and down the stairs to the athletes' residences. At her archery medal ceremony, the medal podium contained ramps to allow the athletes to reach the podiums. Returning home from the Games, Maughan and her wheelchair had to travel in the guard's van on the train back to Preston. Maughan did not take part in the 1964 Games, but returned for the

1968 Summer Paralympics The 1968 Summer Paralympics ( he, המשחקים הפאראלימפיים בקיץ 1968) were the third Paralympic Games to be held. Organised under the guidance of the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation (ISMGF), they were known as t ...

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 ...

. She entered two events in archery – the Women's albion round open and the Women's FITA round open. With scores of 571 and 1534, she finished fourth and fifth, respectively. At the 1972 Games in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students ...

, Maughan again competed in the Women's FITA round open, finishing sixth with a score of 1699. She also entered dartchery, with a teammate whose name is recorded as M. Cooper, in the Women's pairs open. They took the gold medal, ahead of France and Norway. At the

1976 Summer Paralympics The 1976 Summer Paralympics (french: Jeux paralympiques d'été de 1976), branded as Torontolympiad – 1976 Olympiad for the Physically Disabled, was the fifth Paralympic Games to be held. They were hosted by Toronto, Ontario, Canada, from 4 ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, Maughan diversified further. She and teammate M. Cooper obtained the silver medal in the Women's pairs open in dartchery, behind the United States and ahead of South Africa. In archery, in the Women's advanced metric round open, she finished fifth with a score of 568. Entering two events 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 ...

, she obtained two victories to finish fourth in the Women's singles wh – the gold going to South Africa's

Margaret Harriman Margaret Harriman is a Paralympic athlete from South Africa. She was born in Great Britain. She was the only lady to compete in the netball tournament of the second Stoke Mandeville Games in 1949 under her maiden name of Margaret Webb. From 1960 ...

– while British competitors took silver and bronze. In the Women's pairs wh, she and teammate F. Nowak took the silver medal (behind South Africa and ahead of another British pair), with three victories. In the late 1970s, Maughan took part in the Commonwealth Games for the Paralysed, winning multiple medals. At the

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, ho ...

, for her fifth and final appearance at the Paralympic Games, Maughan competed only in lawn bowls. In the Women's singles 2–5, she was beaten 4:21 by Germany's Swanepoel, and 12:21 by fellow British competitor R. Thompson, finishing fourth and last. But in the Women's pairs 2–5, she teamed up with R. Thompson to win her final gold medal, beating a Maltese pair 13:9 then a British pair by an unrecorded score.

Post career and death

After retiring from sport, Maughan worked as a coach at the Stoke Mandeville club. She was the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

torch bearer, who lit the Paralympic Flame, opening the

in London.Olympic Broadcasting Service, channel IPC1, Paralympics International Feed, "2012 Summer Paralympics Opening Ceremonies", airdate 29 August 2012 Maughan died on 20 May 2020 at the age of 91.Margaret Maughan obituary
/ref> Speaking after her death was announced, Nick Webborn, chair of the

British Paralympic Association The British Paralympic Association (BPA) is the National Paralympic Committee for ''Great Britain'' (GBR), and is responsible for the United Kingdom's participation in the Paralympic Games. The BPA select, prepare, enter, fund and manage the G ...

, said that "although her passing is extremely sad the fact that she lived until the age of 91 is testament to the work of Sir Ludwig Guttman who transformed the care of people with spinal cord injury, and that through sport people with disabilities can enjoy rich and fulfilling lives".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maughan, Margaret 1928 births 2020 deaths English female archers English female bowls players English female swimmers Paralympic archers of Great Britain Paralympic dartchers of Great Britain Paralympic lawn bowls players of Great Britain Paralympic swimmers of Great Britain Paralympic medalists in archery Paralympic medalists in dartchery Paralympic medalists in lawn bowls Paralympic medalists in swimming Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Wheelchair category Paralympic competitors Archers at the 1960 Summer Paralympics Archers at the 1968 Summer Paralympics Archers at the 1972 Summer Paralympics Archers at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Dartchers at the 1972 Summer Paralympics Dartchers at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Lawn bowls players at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Lawn bowls players at the 1980 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 1960 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1960 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1972 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1980 Summer Paralympics People with paraplegia Place of birth missing