Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics |
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IPC code | AUS | ||||||||
NPC | Australian Paralympic Committee | ||||||||
Website | www |
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in London | |||||||||
Competitors | 161 in 13 sports | ||||||||
Flag bearer | Greg Smith (Opening) and Evan O'Hanlon (Closing) | ||||||||
Medals Ranked 5th |
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Summer Paralympics appearances (overview) | |||||||||
Qualified for the quarterfinals | |
Eliminated |
Qualified for the semifinals | |
Eliminated |
Australia competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom from 29 August to 9 September 2012. The London Games were the biggest Games with 19 additional countries competing than in Beijing. Australia has participated at every Summer Paralympic Games and hosted the 2000 Sydney Games. Australia finished 5th on the gold and total medal counts.
Notable Australian performances were:
The Australian Paralympic Team launch was held at Parliament House, Canberra on 25 June 2012. Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott farewelled the team. Julia Gillard told the athletes that they were "the fastest, the strongest, the best" and Tony Abbott said "you are best of the best. In fact you are better than that because each one of you has mastered a significant disability to be in this team." Gillard stated that the Australian Government has invested A$13 million in team funding during the last year. The Australian Paralympic Committee organised a Staging Camp in Cardiff, Wales from 1 to 28 August 2012 to allow the Australian team to prepare for the Games.
On 21 August 2012, Greg Smith was announced as the Australian flag bearer for the London 2012 Summer Paralympics. The announcement was made at a special ceremony for the Australian Paralympic Team in front of Cardiff Castle in Wales.
There were 161 athletes competing in 13 sports. About half the team attended their first Games. Shooter Libby Kosmala at the age of 70 was Australia's oldest competitor and swimmer Maddison Elliott at the age of 13 the youngest.
Jason Hellwig, the Australian Paralympic Committee's chief executive is the Chef de Mission. and Michael Hartung and Kate McLoughlin are the Deputy Chefs de Mission. The flag bearer was wheelchair rugby player and former track and field athlete Greg Smith.