Graham Thomas Condon (11 February 1949 – 8 September 2007) was a disabled athlete who won seven medals for New Zealand competing in

Paralympic swimming Para swimming is an adaptation of the sport of swimming for athletes with disabilities. Para swimmers compete at the Summer Paralympic Games and at other sports competitions throughout the world. The sport is governed by the International Para ...

and athletic events and a total of 36 medals in international competition overall. He was also a local-body politician and a disability advocate.

Biography

Condon was rendered a

paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural ...

after contracting childhood

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

. Condon was the only New Zealander to take part in six consecutive Paralympics. He competed in the Paralympics in athletics and swimming at both the 1968 Tel Aviv and 1972 Heidelberg Games, and won a gold medal in the Men's Discus 3 event at the latter competition. He participated in the 1976 Toronto Paralympics and won a gold medal in the Men's Discus 2 event and a silver medal in the Men's Slalom 2 event at the 1980 Arnhem Games; he also participated in swimming at the 1980 games. At the 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville Games, he won two bronze medals in the Men's Marathon 2 and Men's Slalom 2 events. During the Marathon, he was with a bloc of competitors from Australia, America, and Canada when he hit a pothole around the mark, causing the competitor behind him, Robert McIntyre, to lose his balance and flip upside down. Condon helped McIntyre back into position and ended up coming third. His final Paralympics were the 1988 Seoul Games, where he won a silver medal in the Men's Slalom 2 event. He won a total of seven Paralympic medals and 36 medals in international competitions throughout his career. He was one of the founding members of Parafed Canterbury, which strives to boost sport and recreational involvement among disabled people. He was also a board member of the national sports agency

SPARC SPARC (Scalable Processor Architecture) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture originally developed by Sun Microsystems. Its design was strongly influenced by the experimental Berkeley RISC system developed ...

for five years. Condon was elected as a

Christchurch city council The Christchurch City Council is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Christchurch is Phil Mauger, who ...

lor in 1995 and served four terms as a city councillor. He was standing for re-election for the Shirley-Papanui ward in the October 2007 election.

Death

On Saturday 8 September 2007 the 58-year-old Condon was killed in an accident involving a car while riding his hand-propelled bicycle. He was struck by a fifteen-year-old driver on Lower Styx Road,

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

. The funeral was held at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament where hundreds of mourners paid their respects. He was survived by his wife of 35 years, Kath, and his two children, Craig and Andrea.

Recognition

Condon was awarded the

Queen's Service Medal The Queen's Service Medal is a medal awarded by the government of New Zealand to recognise and reward volunteer service to the community and also public service in elected or appointed public office. It was established in 1975 and is related to ...

for community service in the 1982 Queen's Birthday Honours, and a

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to approximately 3,000 people. Background The New Zea ...

in 1990. The Graham Condon Recreation and Sports Centre in

Papanui Papanui is a major suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is situated five kilometers to the northwest of the city centre. Papanui is a middle socio-economic area with a population of 3,645 consisting predominantly of Pākehā (NZ Eur ...

, which opened on 9 October 2011, is named after him. Parafed Canterbury have also named a scholarship after him.

References

External links