Australia at the 1976 Winter Paralympics
| Australia at the 1976 Winter Paralympics |
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| IPC code | AUS | ||||||||
| NPC | Australian Paralympic Committee | ||||||||
| Website | www |
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| in Örnsköldsvik | |||||||||
| Competitors | 1 (unofficial) | ||||||||
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Medals Ranked n/ath |
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| Winter Paralympics appearances (overview) | |||||||||
Australia was represented by one non-competing athlete at the inaugural 1976 Winter Paralympics. The games were held in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden over seven days from 21 to 28 February 1976.
Due to narrow disability requirements, Australia was unofficially represented by Ron Finneran, who was unable to compete as his disability did not meet the event classifications. However, Mr. Finneran's unwavering commitment led to the eventual formation of Disabled Winter Sport Australia (DWSA) and paved the way for Australia's successes at future Winter Paralympic Games.
The IPC Winter Paralympic Games history book states that the first, unofficial idea for the Winter Paralympics arose in 1974 during a pause of the annual general meeting of the International Sports Organisation for the Disabled (ISOD). ISOD Vice President of the time, Bengt Nirije, suggested that the Swedish delegation put forward a bid for the games. The Swedish obliged and the bid was gratefully accepted by the other members of the assembly. This resulted in the Swedish Sports Organisation for the Disabled (SHIF) taking responsibility for the inaugural games and thus the Winter Paralympics was born.
Despite there being no official record as to why Sweden was encouraged to host the games, its rich history in winter sports was no doubt an influential factor. However, despite being the host country, Sweden only had 16 athletes compete which was the sixth largest delegation.
The following nations took part in the 1976 Winter Paralympics. In parenthesis is the number of athletes that represented the corresponding nation.
The games were unsurprisingly dominated by European nations as they historically had a much larger exposure to winter sport recreationally and competitively at the Winter Olympics.
Of the 16 competing nations, Australia is absent. Despite having been at the games, Australia's Ron Finneran was disqualified as he failed to meet the disability requirements. As a result, Australia never officially competed at the 1976 Winter Paralympics.
The literal translation of the word Ornskoldsvik is "eagle shields bay". Fittingly, the logo for the Ornskoldvik Paralympics consists of a large eagle carrying a shield over a body of water. Below, and on either side, is an alpine skier and a cross-country skier - the two sports featured in the games.
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