| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | April 29, 1961 Atlantic, Iowa, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | June 1, 2023 (aged 62) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Para-athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jeff Worthington (April 29, 1961 – June 1, 2023) [1] was an American paralympic athlete. He competed at the 1988 Summer Paralympics. [2] [3]
Worthington was born in Atlantic, Iowa. He was studying at Creighton University when he was involved in a car accident leading to a spinal cord injury in 1981. He completed his rehabilitation at Craig Hospital in Colorado. After his injury, he transferred to Arizona State where he got involved in wheelchair sports. [1] He later moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado where he trained for the Paralympics. [4] [5] [6] He had met Paralympian athlete John Brewer in the 1980s and adopted Brewer’s pushing technique. [4]
Worthington competed at the 1988 Summer Paralympics, competing in athletics. [2] He won the gold medal in the men's 400m 1C event, [7] and also won gold in the men's 800m 1C event, with Brewer finishing second. [7] He also won individual gold medals in the men's 1500m 1C event. [7] and the men's 5000m 1C event, [7] and team golds in the men's 4×100m relay 1A–1C and the men's 4×200m relay 1A–1C. [7]
Marathon events have been held at the Summer Paralympic Games, for both men and women, since the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville and New York City. They are held as part of the Paralympic athletics programme.
Heinrich Köberle, was a German athlete. He competed in wheelchair marathons in a handcycle, and won four gold medals in marathons at the Paralympic Games - more than any other athlete. He held the record for the fastest men's marathon in his disability category, set in Berlin in 1995, in 2:23:08.
Great Britain sent a delegation to compete at the 1972 Summer Paralympics in Heidelberg, West Germany. Teams from the nation are referred to by International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as Great Britain despite athletes from the whole of the United Kingdom, including those from Northern Ireland, being eligible. They sent seventy two competitors, forty seven male and twenty five female. The team won fifty-two medals—sixteen gold, fifteen silver and twenty-one bronze—to finish third in the medal table behind West Germany and the United States. Philip Craven, the former President of the IPC, competed in athletics, swimming and wheelchair basketball for Great Britain at these Games.
Australia has participated in every Summer Paralympic Games since the inception of the Paralympics in the year 1960. The 1976 Paralympic Games in Toronto was Australia's fifth Paralympic Games. Australia competed in 10 out of the 13 sports and were able to win medals in six of these sports. There were 44 athletes representing Australia at the Games with a number of these athletes participating in multiple sports. Of the 44 athletes, 34 were males and 10 were females. As a team, Australia won 41 medals, 16 of which were gold. This placed it just outside the top 10 in 11th position at the end of the Games. The Australian team won more gold medals at the 1976 Paralympic Games than at any of the previous four Paralympic Games. 26 athletes finished on the podium in their respective events. This represents more than half the number of athletes that Australia sent to Toronto. Six world records were broken by Australian athletes on their way to winning their respective events.
Gary Leslie Hooper, MBE is an Australian Paralympic competitor. He won seven medals at three Paralympics from 1960 to 1968.
Fabian John Blattman, OAM is an Australian Paralympic athlete. He became disabled after a motorbike accident. He started playing disabled bowls, before switching to athletics. As a Paralympic athletics competitor, he has set several world records and won two Paralympic gold medals.
Australia competed at the 1980 Summer Paralympics in Arnhem, Netherlands. It was the 6th Summer Paralympic Games in which Australia had competed. These Games were the biggest Paralympics yet, with 1,973 people participating. Of those participants, 57 were Australian. The team was made up of 45 men and 12 women, and was Australia's largest team to compete at any Paralympic Games so far.
Australia competed at the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul, South Korea in 16 sports, winning medals in 6 sports. Gold medals were won in three sports – athletics, lawn bowls and swimming. Australia won 95 medals – 23 gold, 34 silver and 38 bronze medals. Australia finished 10th on the gold medal table and 7th on the combined medal table. Australian Confederation of Sports for the Disabled reported another medal ranking after Games with Australia being 2nd ranked in amputee sports, 8th in wheelchair sports, 11th in blind sports and 12th in cerebral palsy sports.
Gregory Stephen Smith, OAM is an Australian Paralympic athlete and wheelchair rugby player who won three gold medals in athletics at the 2000 Summer Paralympics, and a gold medal in wheelchair rugby at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, where he was the flag bearer at the opening ceremony.
Alan Rex Dufty is an Australian Paralympic athlete who won twelve medals at three Paralympics from 1984 to 1992.
Richard Cordukes from New South Wales is an Australian Paralympic athlete. At the 1988 Seoul Paralympics, he won a silver medal in the Men's 4x100 m Relay 1A–1C event and a bronze medal in the Men's 4x200 m Relay 1A–1C event.
Michael Desanto from Victoria is an Australian Paralympic athlete. He competed without winning any medals at the 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville Paralympics. At the 1988 Seoul Paralympics, he won a silver medal in the Men's 4x100 m Relay 1A–1C event and a bronze medal in the Men's 4x200 m Relay 1A–1C event.
Barbara Caspers is an Australian Paralympic shooter. At the 1980 Arnhem Games, she won a gold medal in the Mixed Air Rifle Kneeling 1A–1C event, a silver medal in the Mixed Air Rifle 3 Positions 1A–1C event, and a bronze medal in the Mixed Air Rifle Standing 1A–1C event. At the 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville Games, she won four gold medals in the Women's Air Rifle Kneeling 1A–1C, Women's Air Rifle Prone 1A–1C, Women's Air Rifle Standing 1A–1C, and Mixed Air Rifle 3 Positions 1A–1C events. She competed but did not win any medals at the 1988 Seoul Games.
S1, SB1, SM1 are disability swimming classifications used for categorising swimmers based on their level of disability. The classifications cover athletes with "very severe coordination problems in four limbs or have no use of their legs, trunk, hands and minimal use of their shoulders only". Swimmers in this class have a variety of different disabilities including cerebral palsy.
T52 is disability sport classification for disability athletics. People in this class have good shoulder and upper body control, but lack fine motor skills in their arms and hands. They have no to limited trunk and leg function. The class includes people with a number of different types of disabilities including spinal cord injuries. Similar classifications are T51, T53 and T54.
T53 is disability sport classification for disability athletics. The class includes people with a number of different types of disabilities including spinal cord injuries. People in this class have full use of their arms but have no or limited trunk function. Similar classifications are T51, T52, and T54. People in this class have a functional upper limbs, but limited trunk usage and limited lower limb functionality. During classification, they both undergo a bench test of muscle strength and demonstrate their skills in athletics. People in this class include Tanni Grey-Thompson (GBR), Samantha Kinghorn (GBR), Angie Ballard (AUS) and Richard Colman (AUS).
Michael Mike Quinn is an Australian Paralympic athletics, swimming and snooker competitor.
Mike Kenny, MBE is a retired British swimmer. He won 16 gold medals and two silvers over four Paralympic Games, making him the second most successful British Paralympian of all time. He twice retained his gold medals in three swimming events, breaking numerous world records in the process.
Brad Alan Parks is an American wheelchair tennis player who co-invented wheelchair tennis with Jeff Minnebraker. During the Uniqlo Wheelchair Tennis Tour in the 1990s, Parks won five singles and seven doubles titles during Championship Series events. During the 1992 Summer Paralympics, Parks reached the quarterfinals in the men's singles and won gold with Randy Snow in the men's doubles. At the 1994 Wheelchair Tennis Masters, Parks also reached the quarterfinals in the men's singles. As an executive, Parks co-founded the National Foundation of Wheelchair Tennis in 1980 before becoming the first president of the International Wheelchair Tennis Federation in 1988. Parks became part of the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2010 and was the 2016 Philippe Chatrier Award recipient from the International Tennis Federation.
John Brewer was an American paralympic athlete. He participated at the 1988 and 2000 Summer Paralympics.
