Wheelchair racing at the Olympics
Wheelchair racing at the Olympic Games |
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---|---|
Overview | |
Sport | Athletics (demonstration) |
Gender | Men and women |
Years held | 1984 – 2004 |
Olympic record | |
Men | 3:06.75 min Saúl Mendoza (2000) |
Women | 1:53.66 min Chantal Petitclerc (2004) |
Wheelchair racing at the Summer Olympics featured as exhibition (or demonstration) competitions at the multi-sport event, appearing within the Olympic athletics programme from 1984 to 2004.[1] On each occasion two track races were held: a men's 1500 metres race and a women's 800 metres race.[2] This was the first time events for disabled athletes have featured at the Summer Olympic Games,[3] with the Paralympic Games being the traditional venue for top level para-athletics. The wheelchair races were the second Olympic exhibition event for disabled athletes, following on from the disabled skiing at the 1984 Winter Olympics, held earlier that year.[4]
Athletes who finished in the top three of these competitions did not have the performances included in the overall medal count. However, unofficial medals were awarded to the competitors nevertheless in 1984 by Juan Antonio Samaranch, the International Olympic Committee president.[5][6] The events were dropped prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and multiple Paralympic gold medallist Chantal Petitclerc stated the decision was a major set-back for the sport, as she favoured its official integration as an Olympic sport.[7]
At the inaugural event in 1984 Sharon Hedrick broke the IPC world record to win the women's 800 m in a time of 2:15.73 minutes.[6] This was followed by two record performances in 1992, when Claude Issorat of France set a men's 1500 m record of 3:13.92 minutes and Denmark's Connie Hansen won the 800 m in a record 1:55.62 minutes.[8] The Olympic records for the event were set by Saúl Mendoza, who finished in 3:06.75 minutes to win the 2000 men's 1500 m race,[9] and Chantal Petitclerc, who won the last women's 800 m event in 1:53.66 minutes in 2004.[10] Issorat, Hedrick and Louise Sauvage each won two Olympic wheelchair races; Issorat and Sauvage had three Olympic podium finishes. The United States had the most success in the event, gathering eleven medals over the six editions.
Contents
Medalists
Men
Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
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1984 Los Angeles |
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1988 Seoul |
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1992 Barcelona |
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1996 Atlanta |
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2000 Sydney |
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2004 Athens |
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Multiple medalists
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Claude Issorat | ![]() |
1992–2000 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
2= | Paul van Winkel | ![]() |
1984–1988 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
2= | Saúl Mendoza | ![]() |
2000–2004 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
4 | Franz Nietlispach | ![]() |
1992–1996 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Medalists by country
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
2= | ![]() |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
2= | ![]() |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
4 | ![]() |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
5 | ![]() |
0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
6 | ![]() |
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
7= | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
7= | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Women
Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
---|---|---|---|
1984 Los Angeles |
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1988 Seoul |
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1992 Barcelona |
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1996 Atlanta |
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2000 Sydney |
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2004 Athens |
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Multiple medalists
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
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1 | Louise Sauvage | ![]() |
1996–2004 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
2 | Sharon Hedrick | ![]() |
1984–1988 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
3 | Connie Hansen | ![]() |
1988–1992 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
4 | Jean Driscoll | ![]() |
1992–1996 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
5 | Monica Wetterström | ![]() |
1984–1992 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
6 | Candace Cable | ![]() |
1984–1988 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Medalists by country
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
2 | ![]() |
2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
3 | ![]() |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
4 | ![]() |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
5 | ![]() |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
6 | ![]() |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
7 | ![]() |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
References
- Participation and results data
- Athletics Women's 800 metres Wheelchair Medalists. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-22.
- Athletics Men's 1,500 metres Wheelchair Medalists. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-12.
- Specific
- ↑ Wheelchair Athletics. OSAV. Retrieved on 2014-05-12.
- ↑ Disabled Sport: Born of the War. Chantal Petitclerc. Retrieved on 2014-05-12.
- ↑ A History and Background of Disability Sport. Texas Woman's University. Retrieved on 2014-05-12.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Sanders, Barry A. (2013-10-14). The Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games. Pg. 113. Arcadia Publishing.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Wheelchair Mark Broken LOS ANGELES, Aug. 11 (AP) - Sharon Hedrick of the United. The New York Times (1984-08-12). Retrieved on 2014-05-12.
- ↑ Wheelchair racing dropped from Beijing Games. CBC Sports. Retrieved on 2014-05-12.
- ↑ OLYMPICS / Barcelona 1992: Olympic Round-Up: Wheelchair events . The Independent (1992-08-03). Retrieved on 2014-05-12.
- ↑ Hot Wheels. Sports Illustrated (2000-09-28). Retrieved on 2014-05-12.
- ↑ Petitclerc, Huot earn Paralympic gold. Canadian Press (2004-09-21). Retrieved on 2014-05-12.