Australia at the 2008 Summer Paralympics

Jodi Willis-Roberts, Russell Short, and Darren Thrupp competed at their sixth Paralympics. Jessica Gallagher was selected in the team but was classified ineligible to compete. She attended the Games as a member of staff.[1] Australian athletes set six world records, a further three Paralympic records and 16 Australian records during the Games.[1] Heath Francis and Evan O'Hanlon won three gold medals.[1][3]

A medal won by O'Hanlon at the 2008 Summer Paralympics on display at the Australian Institute of Sport

Athlete	Class	Event	Final
			Result	Points	Rank
Jennifer Bryce	F54-56	Javelin throw	17.88	898	11
		Shot put	7.85 SB	954	8
Louise Ellery	F32-34/52-53	Shot put	5.07	997	6
Amanda Fraser	F37-38	Discus throw	29.73 SB	1012
		Shot put	10.52 SB	1026	4
Madeleine Hogan	F42-46	Javelin throw	38.89 SB	1062
Brydee Moore	F32-34/51-53	Discus throw	16.02	1061	5
	F32-34/52-53	Shot put	6.38	1005	5
	F33-34/52-53	Javelin throw	11.60	856	13
Kath Proudfoot	F35-36	Discus throw	23.91	1111
		Shot put	8.35	938	4
Charlotte Saville	F35-38	Javelin throw	22.78	959	10
Noni Thompson	F35-36	Discus throw	15.21	707	10
		Shot put	6.07	682	11
Jodi Willis-Roberts	F12-13	Shot put	11.21	898
Christine Wolf	F42	Long jump	3.73 WR	-

Coaches – Scott Goodman (Head Coach), Alison O'Riordan, Andrew Dawes, Brett Jones, Louise Sauvage, Iryna Dvoskina, John Minns, John Eden, Alan Makin, Cathy Raha-Lambert

Officials – Gary Lees (Section Manager), Louise Mogg (Section Manager),Andrew Carter, Rowena Toppenberg, Sian Pugh, Mick Jordan, Phil Power, Steve Butler, Stephanie Martin, Jessica Gallagher

Included on the Australian team was Michael Milton, a four-time gold medalist as a skier in the Winter Paralympics.[5] Mark le Flohic, gold medalist at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Paralympics, was to take part in the Beijing Games but had to pull out due to injury. Le Flohic broke his collar bone during training one week before the Games were to begin.[6]

Athlete	Event	Qualification		1st round		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Opposition Time	Rank
Jane Armstrong	Women's individual pursuit LC3-4/CP3	4:35.768	7	Did not advance
	Women's 1km time trial LC3-4/CP3	N/A				45.402	4
Jayme Paris	Women's individual pursuit LC3-4/CP3	4:24.666	4 q	N/A		Tesoriero (NZL) L 4:26.587	4
	Women's 1km time trial LC3-4/CP3	N/A				44.490
Lindy Hou Katie Parker (pilot - time trial) Toireasa Gallagher (pilot - ind. pursuit)	Women's individual pursuit B&VI 1-3	3:38.085	1 Q	N/A		McGlynn (GBR)  Hunter (GBR) L 3:41.494
	Women's 1km time trial B&VI 1-3	N/A				1:12.463
Felicity Johnson Katie Parker (pilot)	Women's 1km time trial B&VI 1-3	N/A				1:10.465

Coaches – James Victor (Head Coach), Tom Skulander, Paul Martens Officials – Mark Fulcher (Section Manager), Brett Hidson, Anouska Edwards, Alan Downes, Mark Bullen, Stuart Smith, Murray Lydeamore.[1][3]

* Indicated the three best individual scores that count towards the team total.

Coaches – Mary Longden (Head Coach),David Bowman, Sally Francis Officials – Ken Dagley (Chef d’Equipe), Doug Denby, Nicola Reynoldson, Michelle Goodrick, Judy Fyfe, Margaret Keyes, Emma Bardot, Ebony Tucker, Terrina Fairbrother, Liz Wright-Smith, Chris Elliott, Carolyn Lieutenant.[1][3]

Coaches – Ray Epstein (Head Coach), Bill Nancarrow[1][3]

Rowing made its debut at the Beijing Games. There were four boat classes which all competed over a distance of 1000m.[7] Australia competed in two of the four rowing events. Australian athletes Kathryn Ross and John Maclean competed in the trunk and arms mixed double skulls.[8] They won the silver medal, however only missed out on the gold by 0.08 seconds.[8] The gold was won by a crew from China.

Athlete	Event	Heats		Repechage		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Dominic Monypenny	Men's singles sculls	5:38.29	5 R	6:02.45	4 FA	5:59.92	6
John MacLean Kathryn Ross	Mixed double sculls	4:18.66	3 R	4:31.24	1 FA	4:21.58

Coaches - Pedro Albisser (Head Coach), Rik Bryan Officials - Adam Horner (Section Manager)

Athlete	Event	Race											Total points	Net points Total	Rank
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Aaron Hill	1 person keelboat 2.4mR	(12)	10	10	8	10	(13)	6	8	10	11	N/A	98	73	12
Daniel Fitzgibbon Rachel Cox	2 person keelboat SKUD 18	(4)	2	2	2	2	4	(9)	3	1	2	Race Cancelled	31	18
Colin Harrison Jonathan Harris Graeme Martin	3 person keelboat sonar	8	4	2	3	3	3	1	(10)	(15) OCS	5	7	61	36

Coaches – Greg Omay (Head Coach), Adrian Finglas Officials – Sarina Macpherson (Section Manager), Linnea Korssell, Sue Crafer, Geoff Milligan, Timothy Lowe[1][3]

Coaches – Miroslav Sipek (Head Coach), Michelle Fletcher Officials – Nick Sullivan (Section Manager), Anne Bugden[1][3]

Australian swimmers Ellie Cole and Annabelle Williams at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games

There were eight men and eleven women making their Paralympic debut. Australia won 9 gold, 11 silver and 9 bronze medals placing it sixth on the swimming medal tally. It was Australia's most successful sport at the Games. Matthew Cowdrey (5 gold and 3 silver) and Peter Leek (3 gold, 4 silver and 1 bronze) were the standout swimmers.

Athlete	Class	Event	Heats		Final
			Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Sarah Bowen	S6	100m backstroke	1:43.98	9	Did not advance
	SB6	100m breaststroke	1:44.44	2 Q	1:42.39
	SM6	200m individual medley	3:40.89	10	Did not advance
Ellie Cole	S9	100m backstroke	1:13.12	3 Q	1:11.87
		100m butterfly	1:10.70	2 Q	1:10.92
		100m freestyle	1:05.11	5 Q	1:04.24	4
		400m freestyle	4:45.17	2 Q	4:44.60
	SM9	200m individual medley	2:42.26	5 Q	DNS
Amanda Drennan	S9	100m backstroke	1:17.06	9	Did not advance
		100m freestyle	1:06.81	12	Did not advance
		400m freestyle	5:04.62	8 Q	5:07.24	8
Jacqueline Freney	S8	50m freestyle	32.49	4 Q	32.37
		100m freestyle	1:09.92	2 Q	1:08.56
		400m freestyle	5:02.32	3 Q	4:57.21
Samantha Gandolfo	S10	50m freestyle	31.15	11	Did not advance
		100m freestyle	1:05.12	8 Q	1:05.74	8
		400m freestyle	4:48.90	3 Q	4:48.02	5
	SM10	200m individual medley	2:49.45	9	Did not advance
Marayke Jonkers	SM4	150m individual medley	N/A		3:28.88
Katrina Lewis	S10	50m freestyle	28.91	1 Q	29.13
Sian Lucas	S10	100m backstroke	1:14.64	5 Q	1:14.66	5
		100m freestyle	1:07.05	11	Did not advance
		400m freestyle	4:52.14	6 Q	4:49.98	8
Hannah MacDougall	S10	100m backstroke	1:17.87	9	Did not advance
	SM10	200m individual medley	2:53.34	10	Did not advance
Tarryn McGaw	S10	100m backstroke	1:16.58	7 Q	1:15.66	7
		50m freestyle	30.56	10	Did not advance
		100m freestyle	1:05.03	7 Q	1:04.83	7
		400m freestyle	5:03.42	8 Q	4:49.79	7
	SM10	200m individual medley	2:45.89	7 Q	2:46.57	7
Rhiannon Oliver	S8	100m backstroke	1:34.92	9	Did not advance
		50m freestyle	35.25	12	Did not advance
		100m freestyle	1:15.57	11	Did not advance
	SB7	100m breaststroke	N/A		1:45.49	5
Esther Overton	S3	50m backstroke	1:12.49	4 Q	1:13.33	5
		50m freestyle	1:11.99	6 Q	1:12.26	6
Katrina Porter	S7	100m backstroke	1:24.44 WR	1 Q	1:24.30 WR
		50m butterfly	DSQ		Did not advance
		400m freestyle	5:43.88	5 Q	5:44.93	5
	SB6	100m breaststroke	1:55.26	7 Q	1:55.08	7
	SM7	200m individual medley	DSQ		Did not advance
Shelley Rogers	S7	100m backstroke	1:31.49	6 Q	1:30.26	5
		50m butterfly	41.35	6 Q	40.02	6
	SM7	200m individual medley	3:17.34	3 Q	3:12.68	4
Sarah Rose	S6	50m freestyle	40.90	9	Did not advance
		50m butterfly	41.37	5 Q	40.95	4
		100m freestyle	1:30.31	10	Did not advance
	SM6	200m individual medley	3:30.68	7 Q	3:29.54	7
Teigan van Roosmalen	S13	100m backstroke	1:16.26	9	Did not advance
		100m butterfly	1:10.57	6 Q	1:09.48	7
		50m freestyle	N/A		30.51	8
		100m freestyle	1:07.64	9	Did not advance
		400m freestyle	4:58.20	8 Q	5:02.17	8
	SM13	200m individual medley	N/A		2:39.20	6
Prue Watt	S13	100m backstroke	1:15.65	8 Q	1:16.05	8
		100m butterfly	1:08.21	4 Q	1:07.48	4
		50m freestyle	N/A		28.16	5
		100m freestyle	1:02.61	6 Q	1:01.59	6
		400m freestyle	4:49.80	5 Q	4:46.21	6
	SM13	200m individual medley	N/A		2:32.87	5
Annabelle Williams	S9	100m butterfly	1:11.41	4 Q	1:10.98
		50m freestyle	29.76	3 Q	29.80	4
		100m freestyle	1:05.71	7 Q	1:05.43	7

Coaches – Brendan Keogh (Head Coach), Graeme Carroll, Jackie Barck, Amanda Isaac, Jo Love, Rob Moon, Mel Tantrum

Officials – Melanie Jenkins (Section Manager), Jon O'Neill-Shaw, Sandra Eccles, Claire Nichols, Brendan Burkett, Sacha Fulton, Penny Will, Vaughan Nicholson[1][3]

Athlete	Event	Preliminaries				Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Rebecca Julian	Women's singles C6-7	van Zon (NED) L 2–3	Pitry (POL) L 0–3	N/A	3	Did not advance
Sarah Lazzaro	Women's singles C9	Liu M (CHN) L 0-3	Grzelak (POL) L 0-3	Komleva (RUS) L 0-3	4	Did not advance
Rebecca Julian Sarah Lazzaro	Women's team C6-10	No preliminaries				Ukraine (UKR) L 0-3	Did not advance

Coach – Brian Berry (Head Coach) Official – Barbara Talbot (Section Manager). Catherine Morrow was selected but withdrew from the team.[1][3]

Brad Ness in the Australian Paralympic Men's Basketball Team making a free throw when playing against Great Britain.

Australian men's team known as the 'Rollers' won the gold medal defeating Canada 72–60 in the final

Team roster

Dylan Alcott, Brendan Dowler, Justin Eveson, Michael Hartnett, Adrian King, Tristan Knowles, Grant Mizens, Brad Ness, Shaun Norris, Troy Sachs, Tige Simmons, Brett Stibners
Coaches – Ben Ettridge (Head Coach), Craig Friday Officials – Kelvin Browner (section Manager), Ian Lowther

Group B Matches

7 September 2008 16:15

Australia

73–72

Brazil

National Indoor Stadium, Beijing

8 September 2008 20:45

Great Britain

48–67

Australia

National Indoor Stadium, Beijing

9 September 2008 11:30

Australia

79–44

China

National Indoor Stadium, Beijing

10 September 2008 15:30

Australia

66–59

Israel

USTB Gymnasium, Beijing

11 September 2008 20:45

United States	68–61	Australia
Scoring by quarter: 24-20, 18-16, 9-21, 17-4

National Indoor Stadium, Beijing Attendance: 9780 Referees: Juan Manuel Urunuela (ESP)

Group B Standings

Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Australia (Q)	5	4	1	346	291	+55	9
United States (Q)	5	4	1	378	247	+131	9
Great Britain (Q)	5	4	1	334	271	+63	9
Israel (Q)	5	2	3	332	325	+7	7
Brazil	5	1	4	291	348	−57	6
China	5	0	5	203	402	−199	5

Quarter finals

13 September 2008 13:30

Australia	72–52	Japan
Scoring by quarter: 21-15, 17-15, 19-13, 15-9
Pts: Brad Ness 18 Rebs: Brad Ness 14 Asts: Shaun Norris 4		Pts: Kazuyuki Kyoya, Tetsuya Miyajima 9 Rebs: Akimasa Suzuki, Shingo Fujii 6 Asts: Hiroaki Kozai 3

National Indoor Stadium, Beijing Attendance: 12000 Referees: Edwin Frank Wallaart (NED)

Semi finals

14 September 2008 19:00

Great Britain	54–67	Australia
Scoring by quarter: 6-19, 14-17, 13-18, 21-13
Pts: Jon Pollock 18 Rebs: Simon Munn 11 Asts: Jon Pollock 3		Pts: Justin Eveson 22 Rebs: Brad Ness 11 Asts: Justin Eveson 2

National Indoor Stadium, Beijing Attendance: 12000 Referees: Juan Manuel Urunuela (ESP)

Gold medal game

16 September 2008 19:30

Canada	60–72	Australia
Scoring by quarter: 17-16, 15-12, 15-26, 13-18
Pts: Patrick Anderson 22 Rebs: Patrick Anderson, Joey Johnson 12 Asts: Patrick Anderson 6		Pts: Troy Sachs 19 Rebs: Troy Sachs, Justin Eveson 7 Asts: Brad Ness 8

National Indoor Stadium, Beijing Attendance: 12000 Referees: Edwin Frank Wallaart (NED)

The Gliders lining up for the national anthem.

The women's team known as the 'Gliders' won the bronze medal defeating Japan in the playoff.[1][3]

Team roster

Clare Burzynski, Shelley Chaplin, Cobi Crispin, Melanie Domaschenz, Kylie Gauci, Melanie Hall, Katie Hill, Bridie Kean, Tina McKenzie, Kathleen O'Kelly-Kennedy, Sarah Stewart, Liesl Tesch

Coaches – Gerry Hewson (Head Coach), Mark Hewish

Officials – Sonia Healy (Section Manager), Emma Whiteside.[1][3]

Group A Standings'

7 September 2008 10:00

Australia	59–30	Great Britain
Scoring by quarter: 24-2, 6-11, 18-4, 11-13
Pts: Cobi Crispin 16 Rebs: Cobi Crispin 8 Asts: Liesl Tesch 4		Pts: Sally Wager, Clare Strange 5 Rebs: Helen Freeman 7 Asts: Helen Freeman, Clare Strange 3

USTB Gymnasium, Beijing Attendance: 2140 Referees: Bill Kuerzi (USA)

8 September 2008 13:30

Brazil

30–66

Australia

National Indoor Stadium, Beijing

9 September 2008 15:30

Australia

42–61

United States

USTB Gymnasium, Beijing

10 September 2008 18:30

Germany

64–56

Australia

National Indoor Stadium, Beijing

Group A Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	United States (Q)	4	4	0	227	149	+78	8
2	Germany (Q)	4	3	1	214	174	+40	7
3	Australia (Q)	4	2	2	223	185	+38	6
4	Great Britain (Q)	4	1	3	166	194	−28	5
5	Brazil	4	0	4	129	257	−128	4

Quarter-finals

12 September 2008 21:15

Canada	49–53	Australia
Scoring by quarter: 10-14, 17-14, 10-12, 12-13

National Indoor Stadium, Beijing Attendance: 12215 Referees: Juan Manuel Urunuela (ESP)

Semi-finals

13 September 2008 19:00

United States	60–47	Australia
Scoring by quarter: 12-15, 12-7, 14-18, 22-7

National Indoor Stadium, Beijing Attendance: 12000 Referees: Andre Bosveld (NED)

Bronze medal game

15 September 2008 19:00

Australia	53–47	Japan
Scoring by quarter: 17-10, 14-13, 12-13, 10-11

National Indoor Stadium, Beijing Attendance: 12000 Referees: Rui David Marques (BRA)

Representing Australia in wheelchair rugby:
Men – Bryce Alman, Ryley Batt, Grant Boxall, Shane Brand, Cameron Carr, Nazim Erdem, George Hucks, Steve Porter, Ryan Scott, Greg Smith, Scott Vitale Coach – Brad Dubberley (Head Coach) Officials – Kim Ellwood (Section Manager), Rob Doidge, Noni Shelton, Angela Mansell[1][3]

Three of the team made their Paralympic debut and Steve Porter attended his fourth Games. The Australian team known as the 'Steelers' won the silver medal losing to the United States 53–44 in the final.

Group B Standing and Results

Group B

Rank	Team	Pld	W	L	PF:PA	Pts		AUS	GBR	NZL	GER
1	Australia (AUS)	3	3	0	129:111	6		x	43:37	39:38	47:36
2	Great Britain (GBR)	3	2	1	115:116	5		37:43	x	39:38	39:35
3	New Zealand (NZL)	3	1	2	116:109	4		38:39	38:39	x	40:31
4	Germany (GER)	3	0	3	102:126	3		36:47	35:39	31:40	x

  Qualified for quarterfinals

  Eliminated

Source: Paralympic.org[11]

	Semifinals				Gold medal match
	15 September 2008 - 18:00
	United States	35
					16 September 2008 - 20:00
	Great Britain	32
					United States	53
	15 September 2008 - 20:00
					Australia	44
	Australia	41
	Canada	40
					Bronze medal match
					16 September 2008 - 18:00
					Great Britain	41
					Canada	47

Source: Paralympic.org[11]

Athlete	Class	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals
			Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result
Daniela di Toro	Open	Women's singles	Vergeer (NED) L 2–6, 0–6	Did not advance

Coach – Greg Crump (Head Coach) Officials – Geoff Quinlan (Section Manager)[1][3]

The Beijing National Stadium (Birds Nest and the Beijing National Aquatics Centre (The Water Cube),

Many of the venues were designed by Australian companies. One of the iconic venues ‘The Water Cube’, was designed by Australian companies PTW Architects, ARUP Aust., Anti Wave International CSCEC.[15] Other facilities used by for the Paralympics included the Archery, Hockey and Tennis venues which were all designed by Bligh Voller Nield.[15] Many other Australian companies also contributed to the design and building of facilities.

Telstra was one of many major sponsors at the Beijing Games. Throughout the games, the Australia Paralympic Committee and Telstra created the Telstra HeroMessage program.[17] The program generated 7,000 messages of support that were sent to athletes at the games.[17] The program also ran Chat to a Champ. It allowed students from the Telstra Paralympic Education Program to talk to their Paralympic heroes at the games via the internet.[17]

Toyota was another sponsor for the Paralympic team in Beijing. Toyota has been supporting the APC for over 12 years (at the time) and through this has been building awareness of the Paralympic movement.[17][18] They ran multiple promotions in the lead up to the 2008 games. This included developing a media campaign with News Limited and also adding information on Paralympic Games/Athletes to their website.[17]

Representatives from the 25 key sponsors and supporters were sent to Beijing as a part of the BSSP Program. This experience enabled them to see 7 days of the games and witness sports such as swimming cycling, basketball, wheelchair tennis, wheelchair basketball and many more.[17] They also had the chance to tour the Paralympic village, meet the athletes and staff and have an official greeting at the Australian Embassy.[17] “The BSSP enables sponsors and key supporters to experience the Games firsthand and to see the impact of their support on Australia’s Paralympic athletes”.[17]

Inconsistent media coverage between males and females has always been an issue in sport, even in coverage at the Paralympic Games.“In 2007, the Australian government made a pre-election commitment to provide A$1 million to the APC towards the coverage of the 2008 summer and 2010 winter Paralympic Games for the purpose of promoting female participation and role models”.[25] A study conducted for the APC found that the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, “…coverage of women at the Games in Australian media was broadly in line with their proportion of the Australian Team (45%) and their total medal success at the Games (37%)”.[25] Women’s sport coverage exceeded the media’s normal 2 percent allocation of females sport coverage.[25]