In the Paralympic Village, the dining hall is a popular place to relax and meet people. The dining hall at the Athens summer Paralympics reused the huge marquee from the 2000 Sydney Games as the venue for its 18 hour-a-day buffet selection. And, of course, Maccas was popular for those who had finished competition. Outside the dining hall, you were likely to see the traditional ‘trains’ of blind athletes linked to a sighted team member. As in Sydney, the Village comprised low/medium density housing, adding massively wide, sloping streets and large public spaces, making it an 800m excursion by foot, wheelchair or village shuttle bus to go to the dining hall or transport mall from the Australian compound. The team rented electric golf carts, which proved very popular for navigating the Village. The lack of landscaping, weeds and bare dirt gave it a rundown look, not offset by the marble tiles in every apartment and balcony. But, of course, you can always make your own fun!

Date: September 2004

Author: Photos in this gallery are from 2004 team members Lily Chiu, Michelle Fletcher, David Spurrier and Tony Naar

There were lots of stories surrounding the Australian team’s performances at the Athens summer Paralympics and cycling had more than its share. The biggest was the saga of Kieran Modra and his sighted pilots, Robert Crowe and David Short. Modra was selected on the team ahead of Lyn Lepore. However, Lepore appealed her non-selection on the basis that Modra’s selection was based on performances with two separate pilots, Crowe for endurance events and Short for sprint events. Lepore and Modra were at the team’s pre-Games camp in Italy when the appeal was heard in Australia, each knowing that one would leave the camp to go to Athens and the other to return to Australia. The appeal was successful and Modra was out. Enter APC President Greg Hartung, who managed to convince the relevant authorities to issue a ‘wildcard’ invitation to Modra to fill a vacant slot in the cycling program. After training alone in Italy, Modra and his pilots moved into the Village the night before the Games started. On the second day of competition, Modra and Crowe won Australia’s first gold medal of the Games in the 4000m pursuit, cheered on by Rod Kemp, Australia’s Minister for Sport, and his wife. Modra was determined to win a gold medal with Short in the sprint. However, in the first race of the semi-final, their front wheel disintegrated at 60kmh on the home straight, pitching them both onto the track in a shower of carbon fibre shards. They had 20 minutes to be patched up and ride the second race, then another 20 to ride the decider. They won both. An hour later: the final, against a canny pairing from Slovakia, who forced a slow pace, torture for the bloodied, bruised Aussies. The result was gold for Australia and a very emotional Modra, his teammates and the cycling staff.

Date: September 2004

Author: This photo gallery features images from Rob Prezioso, Tony Naar and others.

The logistics of any Games’ opening ceremony mean that there is a lot of waiting around for athletes before they march into the stadium. At the Athens summer Paralympics, members of the Australian team entertained themselves with a beach ball while they waited. The team was led into the opening ceremony by flag bearer Louise Sauvage, Chef de Mission Paul Bird and Paula Coghlan, one of the two team captains. Coghlan’s co-captain Chris Scott didn’t march because the track cycling competition began the next day and so none of the cycling team attended the opening ceremony. A giant olive tree, representing life, was the centrepiece of the opening ceremony. The ceremony ended with the inevitable fireworks and after the crowds had departed, the cauldron burned bright in the moonlit night. Another Games had begun.

Date: September 2004

Author: This photo gallery features images from Rob Prezioso, Tony Naar and others.

The athletes gather for the final time. The Paralympic flag comes down. The flame is extinguished. It’s time to party to mark the end of a six week festival of sport in Sydney – the Olympics and Paralympics. Fireworks. And, as the lights go out, The Seekers sing “The Carnival is Over”.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

Since 1988 the Paralympics had taken place in the same venues as the Olympics that preceded them. In Sydney, almost all the venues were custom built for the Games and were the best to date. And they were often filled, thanks to an innovative ticket policy that gave spectators a day pass to all venues for just $15. Few who experienced the Games would ever forget the queues outside venues and the atmosphere inside. One of the noisiest was The Dome, where the finals of the wheelchair rugby saw crowds of 10,000, many stamping their feet on the temporary grandstands, as Australia won the semi-final by one point and lost the gold medal game by the same margin.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

Flag bearer Brendan Burkett and Chef de Mission Paul Bird led the Australian team into the stadium, cheered on by a crowd of 110,000 and a TV audience in the millions. The cauldron was lit by Louise Sauvage, after the torch was carried on its final leg around the stadium by athletes representing each Paralympic impairment category – winter great Michael Milton, first Indigenous Paralympian Kevin Coombs, and three who would compete in Sydney – Katrina Webb, Lisa Llorens and Anthony Clarke. Vision impaired swimmer Tracey Cross read the athletes’ oath, before the Games were opened by the Governor-General of Australia, Sir William Deane. 6,000 volunteers participated in the ceremony, including thousands of children, many repainting panels on the ground to create a changing tableau. Then followed a concert, featuring Australian artists such as Kylie Minogue and Yothu Yindi. It was an emotional and upbeat ceremony of celebration, created by Karen Richards.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

The Australian women’s basketball team, known as The Pearls, won Australia’s first ever medal in Olympic or Paralympic basketball at the 1992 “Paralympic Games for Persons with Mental Handicap“. Donna Burns was the star of the team, averaging 25 points a game. The team members were: Lorraine Archer, Tanya Atcheson, Donna Burns, Gladys Delaney, Melissa Gallacher, Fiona Hinds, Annette Kelly, Tina Kenna, Christine Humphries, Alice Toogood, with Coach Margaret Sheriff and Manager Robyn Smith.

Date: September 1992

Author: Norman Bailey, photographer.

The men’s 100m sprint event for men’s TS1 classification – leg amputees – at the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics was hotly contested. Australians Kerrod McGregor (far left) and Mark Whiteman (second from left) finished out of the medals, while Switzerland’s Lukas Christen launched himself at the line to take silver and a spectacular tumble. Christen is wearing new technology – a carbon fibre ‘blade’ leg, while most other runners are wearing older technology, ending in prosthetic feet inserted into standard running shoes.

Date: September 1992

Author: Norman Bailey, photographer

Scenes from the Closing Ceremony of the 1988 Seoul Paralympic Games.

Date: October 1988

In the Paralympic Village, the dining hall is a popular place to relax and meet people. The dining hall at the Athens summer Paralympics reused the huge marquee from the 2000 Sydney Games as the venue for its 18 hour-a-day buffet selection. And, of course, Maccas was popular for those who had finished competition. Outside the dining hall, you were likely to see the traditional ‘trains’ of blind athletes linked to a sighted team member. As in Sydney, the Village comprised low/medium density housing, adding massively wide, sloping streets and large public spaces, making it an 800m excursion by foot, wheelchair or village shuttle bus to go to the dining hall or transport mall from the Australian compound. The team rented electric golf carts, which proved very popular for navigating the Village. The lack of landscaping, weeds and bare dirt gave it a rundown look, not offset by the marble tiles in every apartment and balcony. But, of course, you can always make your own fun!

Date: September 2004

Author: Photos in this gallery are from 2004 team members Lily Chiu, Michelle Fletcher, David Spurrier and Tony Naar

There were lots of stories surrounding the Australian team’s performances at the Athens summer Paralympics and cycling had more than its share. The biggest was the saga of Kieran Modra and his sighted pilots, Robert Crowe and David Short. Modra was selected on the team ahead of Lyn Lepore. However, Lepore appealed her non-selection on the basis that Modra’s selection was based on performances with two separate pilots, Crowe for endurance events and Short for sprint events. Lepore and Modra were at the team’s pre-Games camp in Italy when the appeal was heard in Australia, each knowing that one would leave the camp to go to Athens and the other to return to Australia. The appeal was successful and Modra was out. Enter APC President Greg Hartung, who managed to convince the relevant authorities to issue a ‘wildcard’ invitation to Modra to fill a vacant slot in the cycling program. After training alone in Italy, Modra and his pilots moved into the Village the night before the Games started. On the second day of competition, Modra and Crowe won Australia’s first gold medal of the Games in the 4000m pursuit, cheered on by Rod Kemp, Australia’s Minister for Sport, and his wife. Modra was determined to win a gold medal with Short in the sprint. However, in the first race of the semi-final, their front wheel disintegrated at 60kmh on the home straight, pitching them both onto the track in a shower of carbon fibre shards. They had 20 minutes to be patched up and ride the second race, then another 20 to ride the decider. They won both. An hour later: the final, against a canny pairing from Slovakia, who forced a slow pace, torture for the bloodied, bruised Aussies. The result was gold for Australia and a very emotional Modra, his teammates and the cycling staff.

Date: September 2004

Author: This photo gallery features images from Rob Prezioso, Tony Naar and others.

The logistics of any Games’ opening ceremony mean that there is a lot of waiting around for athletes before they march into the stadium. At the Athens summer Paralympics, members of the Australian team entertained themselves with a beach ball while they waited. The team was led into the opening ceremony by flag bearer Louise Sauvage, Chef de Mission Paul Bird and Paula Coghlan, one of the two team captains. Coghlan’s co-captain Chris Scott didn’t march because the track cycling competition began the next day and so none of the cycling team attended the opening ceremony. A giant olive tree, representing life, was the centrepiece of the opening ceremony. The ceremony ended with the inevitable fireworks and after the crowds had departed, the cauldron burned bright in the moonlit night. Another Games had begun.

Date: September 2004

Author: This photo gallery features images from Rob Prezioso, Tony Naar and others.

The athletes gather for the final time. The Paralympic flag comes down. The flame is extinguished. It’s time to party to mark the end of a six week festival of sport in Sydney – the Olympics and Paralympics. Fireworks. And, as the lights go out, The Seekers sing “The Carnival is Over”.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

Since 1988 the Paralympics had taken place in the same venues as the Olympics that preceded them. In Sydney, almost all the venues were custom built for the Games and were the best to date. And they were often filled, thanks to an innovative ticket policy that gave spectators a day pass to all venues for just $15. Few who experienced the Games would ever forget the queues outside venues and the atmosphere inside. One of the noisiest was The Dome, where the finals of the wheelchair rugby saw crowds of 10,000, many stamping their feet on the temporary grandstands, as Australia won the semi-final by one point and lost the gold medal game by the same margin.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

Flag bearer Brendan Burkett and Chef de Mission Paul Bird led the Australian team into the stadium, cheered on by a crowd of 110,000 and a TV audience in the millions. The cauldron was lit by Louise Sauvage, after the torch was carried on its final leg around the stadium by athletes representing each Paralympic impairment category – winter great Michael Milton, first Indigenous Paralympian Kevin Coombs, and three who would compete in Sydney – Katrina Webb, Lisa Llorens and Anthony Clarke. Vision impaired swimmer Tracey Cross read the athletes’ oath, before the Games were opened by the Governor-General of Australia, Sir William Deane. 6,000 volunteers participated in the ceremony, including thousands of children, many repainting panels on the ground to create a changing tableau. Then followed a concert, featuring Australian artists such as Kylie Minogue and Yothu Yindi. It was an emotional and upbeat ceremony of celebration, created by Karen Richards.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

The Australian women’s basketball team, known as The Pearls, won Australia’s first ever medal in Olympic or Paralympic basketball at the 1992 “Paralympic Games for Persons with Mental Handicap“. Donna Burns was the star of the team, averaging 25 points a game. The team members were: Lorraine Archer, Tanya Atcheson, Donna Burns, Gladys Delaney, Melissa Gallacher, Fiona Hinds, Annette Kelly, Tina Kenna, Christine Humphries, Alice Toogood, with Coach Margaret Sheriff and Manager Robyn Smith.

Date: September 1992

Author: Norman Bailey, photographer.

The men’s 100m sprint event for men’s TS1 classification – leg amputees – at the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics was hotly contested. Australians Kerrod McGregor (far left) and Mark Whiteman (second from left) finished out of the medals, while Switzerland’s Lukas Christen launched himself at the line to take silver and a spectacular tumble. Christen is wearing new technology – a carbon fibre ‘blade’ leg, while most other runners are wearing older technology, ending in prosthetic feet inserted into standard running shoes.

Date: September 1992

Author: Norman Bailey, photographer

Scenes from the Closing Ceremony of the 1988 Seoul Paralympic Games.

Date: October 1988

In the Paralympic Village, the dining hall is a popular place to relax and meet people. The dining hall at the Athens summer Paralympics reused the huge marquee from the 2000 Sydney Games as the venue for its 18 hour-a-day buffet selection. And, of course, Maccas was popular for those who had finished competition. Outside the dining hall, you were likely to see the traditional ‘trains’ of blind athletes linked to a sighted team member. As in Sydney, the Village comprised low/medium density housing, adding massively wide, sloping streets and large public spaces, making it an 800m excursion by foot, wheelchair or village shuttle bus to go to the dining hall or transport mall from the Australian compound. The team rented electric golf carts, which proved very popular for navigating the Village. The lack of landscaping, weeds and bare dirt gave it a rundown look, not offset by the marble tiles in every apartment and balcony. But, of course, you can always make your own fun!

Date: September 2004

Author: Photos in this gallery are from 2004 team members Lily Chiu, Michelle Fletcher, David Spurrier and Tony Naar

There were lots of stories surrounding the Australian team’s performances at the Athens summer Paralympics and cycling had more than its share. The biggest was the saga of Kieran Modra and his sighted pilots, Robert Crowe and David Short. Modra was selected on the team ahead of Lyn Lepore. However, Lepore appealed her non-selection on the basis that Modra’s selection was based on performances with two separate pilots, Crowe for endurance events and Short for sprint events. Lepore and Modra were at the team’s pre-Games camp in Italy when the appeal was heard in Australia, each knowing that one would leave the camp to go to Athens and the other to return to Australia. The appeal was successful and Modra was out. Enter APC President Greg Hartung, who managed to convince the relevant authorities to issue a ‘wildcard’ invitation to Modra to fill a vacant slot in the cycling program. After training alone in Italy, Modra and his pilots moved into the Village the night before the Games started. On the second day of competition, Modra and Crowe won Australia’s first gold medal of the Games in the 4000m pursuit, cheered on by Rod Kemp, Australia’s Minister for Sport, and his wife. Modra was determined to win a gold medal with Short in the sprint. However, in the first race of the semi-final, their front wheel disintegrated at 60kmh on the home straight, pitching them both onto the track in a shower of carbon fibre shards. They had 20 minutes to be patched up and ride the second race, then another 20 to ride the decider. They won both. An hour later: the final, against a canny pairing from Slovakia, who forced a slow pace, torture for the bloodied, bruised Aussies. The result was gold for Australia and a very emotional Modra, his teammates and the cycling staff.

Date: September 2004

Author: This photo gallery features images from Rob Prezioso, Tony Naar and others.

The logistics of any Games’ opening ceremony mean that there is a lot of waiting around for athletes before they march into the stadium. At the Athens summer Paralympics, members of the Australian team entertained themselves with a beach ball while they waited. The team was led into the opening ceremony by flag bearer Louise Sauvage, Chef de Mission Paul Bird and Paula Coghlan, one of the two team captains. Coghlan’s co-captain Chris Scott didn’t march because the track cycling competition began the next day and so none of the cycling team attended the opening ceremony. A giant olive tree, representing life, was the centrepiece of the opening ceremony. The ceremony ended with the inevitable fireworks and after the crowds had departed, the cauldron burned bright in the moonlit night. Another Games had begun.

Date: September 2004

Author: This photo gallery features images from Rob Prezioso, Tony Naar and others.

The athletes gather for the final time. The Paralympic flag comes down. The flame is extinguished. It’s time to party to mark the end of a six week festival of sport in Sydney – the Olympics and Paralympics. Fireworks. And, as the lights go out, The Seekers sing “The Carnival is Over”.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

Since 1988 the Paralympics had taken place in the same venues as the Olympics that preceded them. In Sydney, almost all the venues were custom built for the Games and were the best to date. And they were often filled, thanks to an innovative ticket policy that gave spectators a day pass to all venues for just $15. Few who experienced the Games would ever forget the queues outside venues and the atmosphere inside. One of the noisiest was The Dome, where the finals of the wheelchair rugby saw crowds of 10,000, many stamping their feet on the temporary grandstands, as Australia won the semi-final by one point and lost the gold medal game by the same margin.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

Flag bearer Brendan Burkett and Chef de Mission Paul Bird led the Australian team into the stadium, cheered on by a crowd of 110,000 and a TV audience in the millions. The cauldron was lit by Louise Sauvage, after the torch was carried on its final leg around the stadium by athletes representing each Paralympic impairment category – winter great Michael Milton, first Indigenous Paralympian Kevin Coombs, and three who would compete in Sydney – Katrina Webb, Lisa Llorens and Anthony Clarke. Vision impaired swimmer Tracey Cross read the athletes’ oath, before the Games were opened by the Governor-General of Australia, Sir William Deane. 6,000 volunteers participated in the ceremony, including thousands of children, many repainting panels on the ground to create a changing tableau. Then followed a concert, featuring Australian artists such as Kylie Minogue and Yothu Yindi. It was an emotional and upbeat ceremony of celebration, created by Karen Richards.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

The Australian women’s basketball team, known as The Pearls, won Australia’s first ever medal in Olympic or Paralympic basketball at the 1992 “Paralympic Games for Persons with Mental Handicap“. Donna Burns was the star of the team, averaging 25 points a game. The team members were: Lorraine Archer, Tanya Atcheson, Donna Burns, Gladys Delaney, Melissa Gallacher, Fiona Hinds, Annette Kelly, Tina Kenna, Christine Humphries, Alice Toogood, with Coach Margaret Sheriff and Manager Robyn Smith.

Date: September 1992

Author: Norman Bailey, photographer.

The men’s 100m sprint event for men’s TS1 classification – leg amputees – at the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics was hotly contested. Australians Kerrod McGregor (far left) and Mark Whiteman (second from left) finished out of the medals, while Switzerland’s Lukas Christen launched himself at the line to take silver and a spectacular tumble. Christen is wearing new technology – a carbon fibre ‘blade’ leg, while most other runners are wearing older technology, ending in prosthetic feet inserted into standard running shoes.

Date: September 1992

Author: Norman Bailey, photographer

Scenes from the Closing Ceremony of the 1988 Seoul Paralympic Games.

Date: October 1988

In the Paralympic Village, the dining hall is a popular place to relax and meet people. The dining hall at the Athens summer Paralympics reused the huge marquee from the 2000 Sydney Games as the venue for its 18 hour-a-day buffet selection. And, of course, Maccas was popular for those who had finished competition. Outside the dining hall, you were likely to see the traditional ‘trains’ of blind athletes linked to a sighted team member. As in Sydney, the Village comprised low/medium density housing, adding massively wide, sloping streets and large public spaces, making it an 800m excursion by foot, wheelchair or village shuttle bus to go to the dining hall or transport mall from the Australian compound. The team rented electric golf carts, which proved very popular for navigating the Village. The lack of landscaping, weeds and bare dirt gave it a rundown look, not offset by the marble tiles in every apartment and balcony. But, of course, you can always make your own fun!

Date: September 2004

Author: Photos in this gallery are from 2004 team members Lily Chiu, Michelle Fletcher, David Spurrier and Tony Naar

There were lots of stories surrounding the Australian team’s performances at the Athens summer Paralympics and cycling had more than its share. The biggest was the saga of Kieran Modra and his sighted pilots, Robert Crowe and David Short. Modra was selected on the team ahead of Lyn Lepore. However, Lepore appealed her non-selection on the basis that Modra’s selection was based on performances with two separate pilots, Crowe for endurance events and Short for sprint events. Lepore and Modra were at the team’s pre-Games camp in Italy when the appeal was heard in Australia, each knowing that one would leave the camp to go to Athens and the other to return to Australia. The appeal was successful and Modra was out. Enter APC President Greg Hartung, who managed to convince the relevant authorities to issue a ‘wildcard’ invitation to Modra to fill a vacant slot in the cycling program. After training alone in Italy, Modra and his pilots moved into the Village the night before the Games started. On the second day of competition, Modra and Crowe won Australia’s first gold medal of the Games in the 4000m pursuit, cheered on by Rod Kemp, Australia’s Minister for Sport, and his wife. Modra was determined to win a gold medal with Short in the sprint. However, in the first race of the semi-final, their front wheel disintegrated at 60kmh on the home straight, pitching them both onto the track in a shower of carbon fibre shards. They had 20 minutes to be patched up and ride the second race, then another 20 to ride the decider. They won both. An hour later: the final, against a canny pairing from Slovakia, who forced a slow pace, torture for the bloodied, bruised Aussies. The result was gold for Australia and a very emotional Modra, his teammates and the cycling staff.

Date: September 2004

Author: This photo gallery features images from Rob Prezioso, Tony Naar and others.

The logistics of any Games’ opening ceremony mean that there is a lot of waiting around for athletes before they march into the stadium. At the Athens summer Paralympics, members of the Australian team entertained themselves with a beach ball while they waited. The team was led into the opening ceremony by flag bearer Louise Sauvage, Chef de Mission Paul Bird and Paula Coghlan, one of the two team captains. Coghlan’s co-captain Chris Scott didn’t march because the track cycling competition began the next day and so none of the cycling team attended the opening ceremony. A giant olive tree, representing life, was the centrepiece of the opening ceremony. The ceremony ended with the inevitable fireworks and after the crowds had departed, the cauldron burned bright in the moonlit night. Another Games had begun.

Date: September 2004

Author: This photo gallery features images from Rob Prezioso, Tony Naar and others.

The athletes gather for the final time. The Paralympic flag comes down. The flame is extinguished. It’s time to party to mark the end of a six week festival of sport in Sydney – the Olympics and Paralympics. Fireworks. And, as the lights go out, The Seekers sing “The Carnival is Over”.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

Since 1988 the Paralympics had taken place in the same venues as the Olympics that preceded them. In Sydney, almost all the venues were custom built for the Games and were the best to date. And they were often filled, thanks to an innovative ticket policy that gave spectators a day pass to all venues for just $15. Few who experienced the Games would ever forget the queues outside venues and the atmosphere inside. One of the noisiest was The Dome, where the finals of the wheelchair rugby saw crowds of 10,000, many stamping their feet on the temporary grandstands, as Australia won the semi-final by one point and lost the gold medal game by the same margin.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

Flag bearer Brendan Burkett and Chef de Mission Paul Bird led the Australian team into the stadium, cheered on by a crowd of 110,000 and a TV audience in the millions. The cauldron was lit by Louise Sauvage, after the torch was carried on its final leg around the stadium by athletes representing each Paralympic impairment category – winter great Michael Milton, first Indigenous Paralympian Kevin Coombs, and three who would compete in Sydney – Katrina Webb, Lisa Llorens and Anthony Clarke. Vision impaired swimmer Tracey Cross read the athletes’ oath, before the Games were opened by the Governor-General of Australia, Sir William Deane. 6,000 volunteers participated in the ceremony, including thousands of children, many repainting panels on the ground to create a changing tableau. Then followed a concert, featuring Australian artists such as Kylie Minogue and Yothu Yindi. It was an emotional and upbeat ceremony of celebration, created by Karen Richards.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

The Australian women’s basketball team, known as The Pearls, won Australia’s first ever medal in Olympic or Paralympic basketball at the 1992 “Paralympic Games for Persons with Mental Handicap“. Donna Burns was the star of the team, averaging 25 points a game. The team members were: Lorraine Archer, Tanya Atcheson, Donna Burns, Gladys Delaney, Melissa Gallacher, Fiona Hinds, Annette Kelly, Tina Kenna, Christine Humphries, Alice Toogood, with Coach Margaret Sheriff and Manager Robyn Smith.

Date: September 1992

Author: Norman Bailey, photographer.

The men’s 100m sprint event for men’s TS1 classification – leg amputees – at the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics was hotly contested. Australians Kerrod McGregor (far left) and Mark Whiteman (second from left) finished out of the medals, while Switzerland’s Lukas Christen launched himself at the line to take silver and a spectacular tumble. Christen is wearing new technology – a carbon fibre ‘blade’ leg, while most other runners are wearing older technology, ending in prosthetic feet inserted into standard running shoes.

Date: September 1992

Author: Norman Bailey, photographer

Scenes from the Closing Ceremony of the 1988 Seoul Paralympic Games.

Date: October 1988

In the Paralympic Village, the dining hall is a popular place to relax and meet people. The dining hall at the Athens summer Paralympics reused the huge marquee from the 2000 Sydney Games as the venue for its 18 hour-a-day buffet selection. And, of course, Maccas was popular for those who had finished competition. Outside the dining hall, you were likely to see the traditional ‘trains’ of blind athletes linked to a sighted team member. As in Sydney, the Village comprised low/medium density housing, adding massively wide, sloping streets and large public spaces, making it an 800m excursion by foot, wheelchair or village shuttle bus to go to the dining hall or transport mall from the Australian compound. The team rented electric golf carts, which proved very popular for navigating the Village. The lack of landscaping, weeds and bare dirt gave it a rundown look, not offset by the marble tiles in every apartment and balcony. But, of course, you can always make your own fun!

Date: September 2004

Author: Photos in this gallery are from 2004 team members Lily Chiu, Michelle Fletcher, David Spurrier and Tony Naar

There were lots of stories surrounding the Australian team’s performances at the Athens summer Paralympics and cycling had more than its share. The biggest was the saga of Kieran Modra and his sighted pilots, Robert Crowe and David Short. Modra was selected on the team ahead of Lyn Lepore. However, Lepore appealed her non-selection on the basis that Modra’s selection was based on performances with two separate pilots, Crowe for endurance events and Short for sprint events. Lepore and Modra were at the team’s pre-Games camp in Italy when the appeal was heard in Australia, each knowing that one would leave the camp to go to Athens and the other to return to Australia. The appeal was successful and Modra was out. Enter APC President Greg Hartung, who managed to convince the relevant authorities to issue a ‘wildcard’ invitation to Modra to fill a vacant slot in the cycling program. After training alone in Italy, Modra and his pilots moved into the Village the night before the Games started. On the second day of competition, Modra and Crowe won Australia’s first gold medal of the Games in the 4000m pursuit, cheered on by Rod Kemp, Australia’s Minister for Sport, and his wife. Modra was determined to win a gold medal with Short in the sprint. However, in the first race of the semi-final, their front wheel disintegrated at 60kmh on the home straight, pitching them both onto the track in a shower of carbon fibre shards. They had 20 minutes to be patched up and ride the second race, then another 20 to ride the decider. They won both. An hour later: the final, against a canny pairing from Slovakia, who forced a slow pace, torture for the bloodied, bruised Aussies. The result was gold for Australia and a very emotional Modra, his teammates and the cycling staff.

Date: September 2004

Author: This photo gallery features images from Rob Prezioso, Tony Naar and others.

The logistics of any Games’ opening ceremony mean that there is a lot of waiting around for athletes before they march into the stadium. At the Athens summer Paralympics, members of the Australian team entertained themselves with a beach ball while they waited. The team was led into the opening ceremony by flag bearer Louise Sauvage, Chef de Mission Paul Bird and Paula Coghlan, one of the two team captains. Coghlan’s co-captain Chris Scott didn’t march because the track cycling competition began the next day and so none of the cycling team attended the opening ceremony. A giant olive tree, representing life, was the centrepiece of the opening ceremony. The ceremony ended with the inevitable fireworks and after the crowds had departed, the cauldron burned bright in the moonlit night. Another Games had begun.

Date: September 2004

Author: This photo gallery features images from Rob Prezioso, Tony Naar and others.

The athletes gather for the final time. The Paralympic flag comes down. The flame is extinguished. It’s time to party to mark the end of a six week festival of sport in Sydney – the Olympics and Paralympics. Fireworks. And, as the lights go out, The Seekers sing “The Carnival is Over”.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

Since 1988 the Paralympics had taken place in the same venues as the Olympics that preceded them. In Sydney, almost all the venues were custom built for the Games and were the best to date. And they were often filled, thanks to an innovative ticket policy that gave spectators a day pass to all venues for just $15. Few who experienced the Games would ever forget the queues outside venues and the atmosphere inside. One of the noisiest was The Dome, where the finals of the wheelchair rugby saw crowds of 10,000, many stamping their feet on the temporary grandstands, as Australia won the semi-final by one point and lost the gold medal game by the same margin.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

Flag bearer Brendan Burkett and Chef de Mission Paul Bird led the Australian team into the stadium, cheered on by a crowd of 110,000 and a TV audience in the millions. The cauldron was lit by Louise Sauvage, after the torch was carried on its final leg around the stadium by athletes representing each Paralympic impairment category – winter great Michael Milton, first Indigenous Paralympian Kevin Coombs, and three who would compete in Sydney – Katrina Webb, Lisa Llorens and Anthony Clarke. Vision impaired swimmer Tracey Cross read the athletes’ oath, before the Games were opened by the Governor-General of Australia, Sir William Deane. 6,000 volunteers participated in the ceremony, including thousands of children, many repainting panels on the ground to create a changing tableau. Then followed a concert, featuring Australian artists such as Kylie Minogue and Yothu Yindi. It was an emotional and upbeat ceremony of celebration, created by Karen Richards.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

The Australian women’s basketball team, known as The Pearls, won Australia’s first ever medal in Olympic or Paralympic basketball at the 1992 “Paralympic Games for Persons with Mental Handicap“. Donna Burns was the star of the team, averaging 25 points a game. The team members were: Lorraine Archer, Tanya Atcheson, Donna Burns, Gladys Delaney, Melissa Gallacher, Fiona Hinds, Annette Kelly, Tina Kenna, Christine Humphries, Alice Toogood, with Coach Margaret Sheriff and Manager Robyn Smith.

Date: September 1992

Author: Norman Bailey, photographer.

The men’s 100m sprint event for men’s TS1 classification – leg amputees – at the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics was hotly contested. Australians Kerrod McGregor (far left) and Mark Whiteman (second from left) finished out of the medals, while Switzerland’s Lukas Christen launched himself at the line to take silver and a spectacular tumble. Christen is wearing new technology – a carbon fibre ‘blade’ leg, while most other runners are wearing older technology, ending in prosthetic feet inserted into standard running shoes.

Date: September 1992

Author: Norman Bailey, photographer

Scenes from the Closing Ceremony of the 1988 Seoul Paralympic Games.

Date: October 1988

In the Paralympic Village, the dining hall is a popular place to relax and meet people. The dining hall at the Athens summer Paralympics reused the huge marquee from the 2000 Sydney Games as the venue for its 18 hour-a-day buffet selection. And, of course, Maccas was popular for those who had finished competition. Outside the dining hall, you were likely to see the traditional ‘trains’ of blind athletes linked to a sighted team member. As in Sydney, the Village comprised low/medium density housing, adding massively wide, sloping streets and large public spaces, making it an 800m excursion by foot, wheelchair or village shuttle bus to go to the dining hall or transport mall from the Australian compound. The team rented electric golf carts, which proved very popular for navigating the Village. The lack of landscaping, weeds and bare dirt gave it a rundown look, not offset by the marble tiles in every apartment and balcony. But, of course, you can always make your own fun!

Date: September 2004

Author: Photos in this gallery are from 2004 team members Lily Chiu, Michelle Fletcher, David Spurrier and Tony Naar

There were lots of stories surrounding the Australian team’s performances at the Athens summer Paralympics and cycling had more than its share. The biggest was the saga of Kieran Modra and his sighted pilots, Robert Crowe and David Short. Modra was selected on the team ahead of Lyn Lepore. However, Lepore appealed her non-selection on the basis that Modra’s selection was based on performances with two separate pilots, Crowe for endurance events and Short for sprint events. Lepore and Modra were at the team’s pre-Games camp in Italy when the appeal was heard in Australia, each knowing that one would leave the camp to go to Athens and the other to return to Australia. The appeal was successful and Modra was out. Enter APC President Greg Hartung, who managed to convince the relevant authorities to issue a ‘wildcard’ invitation to Modra to fill a vacant slot in the cycling program. After training alone in Italy, Modra and his pilots moved into the Village the night before the Games started. On the second day of competition, Modra and Crowe won Australia’s first gold medal of the Games in the 4000m pursuit, cheered on by Rod Kemp, Australia’s Minister for Sport, and his wife. Modra was determined to win a gold medal with Short in the sprint. However, in the first race of the semi-final, their front wheel disintegrated at 60kmh on the home straight, pitching them both onto the track in a shower of carbon fibre shards. They had 20 minutes to be patched up and ride the second race, then another 20 to ride the decider. They won both. An hour later: the final, against a canny pairing from Slovakia, who forced a slow pace, torture for the bloodied, bruised Aussies. The result was gold for Australia and a very emotional Modra, his teammates and the cycling staff.

Date: September 2004

Author: This photo gallery features images from Rob Prezioso, Tony Naar and others.

The logistics of any Games’ opening ceremony mean that there is a lot of waiting around for athletes before they march into the stadium. At the Athens summer Paralympics, members of the Australian team entertained themselves with a beach ball while they waited. The team was led into the opening ceremony by flag bearer Louise Sauvage, Chef de Mission Paul Bird and Paula Coghlan, one of the two team captains. Coghlan’s co-captain Chris Scott didn’t march because the track cycling competition began the next day and so none of the cycling team attended the opening ceremony. A giant olive tree, representing life, was the centrepiece of the opening ceremony. The ceremony ended with the inevitable fireworks and after the crowds had departed, the cauldron burned bright in the moonlit night. Another Games had begun.

Date: September 2004

Author: This photo gallery features images from Rob Prezioso, Tony Naar and others.

The athletes gather for the final time. The Paralympic flag comes down. The flame is extinguished. It’s time to party to mark the end of a six week festival of sport in Sydney – the Olympics and Paralympics. Fireworks. And, as the lights go out, The Seekers sing “The Carnival is Over”.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

Since 1988 the Paralympics had taken place in the same venues as the Olympics that preceded them. In Sydney, almost all the venues were custom built for the Games and were the best to date. And they were often filled, thanks to an innovative ticket policy that gave spectators a day pass to all venues for just $15. Few who experienced the Games would ever forget the queues outside venues and the atmosphere inside. One of the noisiest was The Dome, where the finals of the wheelchair rugby saw crowds of 10,000, many stamping their feet on the temporary grandstands, as Australia won the semi-final by one point and lost the gold medal game by the same margin.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

Flag bearer Brendan Burkett and Chef de Mission Paul Bird led the Australian team into the stadium, cheered on by a crowd of 110,000 and a TV audience in the millions. The cauldron was lit by Louise Sauvage, after the torch was carried on its final leg around the stadium by athletes representing each Paralympic impairment category – winter great Michael Milton, first Indigenous Paralympian Kevin Coombs, and three who would compete in Sydney – Katrina Webb, Lisa Llorens and Anthony Clarke. Vision impaired swimmer Tracey Cross read the athletes’ oath, before the Games were opened by the Governor-General of Australia, Sir William Deane. 6,000 volunteers participated in the ceremony, including thousands of children, many repainting panels on the ground to create a changing tableau. Then followed a concert, featuring Australian artists such as Kylie Minogue and Yothu Yindi. It was an emotional and upbeat ceremony of celebration, created by Karen Richards.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

The Australian women’s basketball team, known as The Pearls, won Australia’s first ever medal in Olympic or Paralympic basketball at the 1992 “Paralympic Games for Persons with Mental Handicap“. Donna Burns was the star of the team, averaging 25 points a game. The team members were: Lorraine Archer, Tanya Atcheson, Donna Burns, Gladys Delaney, Melissa Gallacher, Fiona Hinds, Annette Kelly, Tina Kenna, Christine Humphries, Alice Toogood, with Coach Margaret Sheriff and Manager Robyn Smith.

Date: September 1992

Author: Norman Bailey, photographer.

The men’s 100m sprint event for men’s TS1 classification – leg amputees – at the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics was hotly contested. Australians Kerrod McGregor (far left) and Mark Whiteman (second from left) finished out of the medals, while Switzerland’s Lukas Christen launched himself at the line to take silver and a spectacular tumble. Christen is wearing new technology – a carbon fibre ‘blade’ leg, while most other runners are wearing older technology, ending in prosthetic feet inserted into standard running shoes.

Date: September 1992

Author: Norman Bailey, photographer

Scenes from the Closing Ceremony of the 1988 Seoul Paralympic Games.

Date: October 1988

In the Paralympic Village, the dining hall is a popular place to relax and meet people. The dining hall at the Athens summer Paralympics reused the huge marquee from the 2000 Sydney Games as the venue for its 18 hour-a-day buffet selection. And, of course, Maccas was popular for those who had finished competition. Outside the dining hall, you were likely to see the traditional ‘trains’ of blind athletes linked to a sighted team member. As in Sydney, the Village comprised low/medium density housing, adding massively wide, sloping streets and large public spaces, making it an 800m excursion by foot, wheelchair or village shuttle bus to go to the dining hall or transport mall from the Australian compound. The team rented electric golf carts, which proved very popular for navigating the Village. The lack of landscaping, weeds and bare dirt gave it a rundown look, not offset by the marble tiles in every apartment and balcony. But, of course, you can always make your own fun!

Date: September 2004

Author: Photos in this gallery are from 2004 team members Lily Chiu, Michelle Fletcher, David Spurrier and Tony Naar

There were lots of stories surrounding the Australian team’s performances at the Athens summer Paralympics and cycling had more than its share. The biggest was the saga of Kieran Modra and his sighted pilots, Robert Crowe and David Short. Modra was selected on the team ahead of Lyn Lepore. However, Lepore appealed her non-selection on the basis that Modra’s selection was based on performances with two separate pilots, Crowe for endurance events and Short for sprint events. Lepore and Modra were at the team’s pre-Games camp in Italy when the appeal was heard in Australia, each knowing that one would leave the camp to go to Athens and the other to return to Australia. The appeal was successful and Modra was out. Enter APC President Greg Hartung, who managed to convince the relevant authorities to issue a ‘wildcard’ invitation to Modra to fill a vacant slot in the cycling program. After training alone in Italy, Modra and his pilots moved into the Village the night before the Games started. On the second day of competition, Modra and Crowe won Australia’s first gold medal of the Games in the 4000m pursuit, cheered on by Rod Kemp, Australia’s Minister for Sport, and his wife. Modra was determined to win a gold medal with Short in the sprint. However, in the first race of the semi-final, their front wheel disintegrated at 60kmh on the home straight, pitching them both onto the track in a shower of carbon fibre shards. They had 20 minutes to be patched up and ride the second race, then another 20 to ride the decider. They won both. An hour later: the final, against a canny pairing from Slovakia, who forced a slow pace, torture for the bloodied, bruised Aussies. The result was gold for Australia and a very emotional Modra, his teammates and the cycling staff.

Date: September 2004

Author: This photo gallery features images from Rob Prezioso, Tony Naar and others.

The logistics of any Games’ opening ceremony mean that there is a lot of waiting around for athletes before they march into the stadium. At the Athens summer Paralympics, members of the Australian team entertained themselves with a beach ball while they waited. The team was led into the opening ceremony by flag bearer Louise Sauvage, Chef de Mission Paul Bird and Paula Coghlan, one of the two team captains. Coghlan’s co-captain Chris Scott didn’t march because the track cycling competition began the next day and so none of the cycling team attended the opening ceremony. A giant olive tree, representing life, was the centrepiece of the opening ceremony. The ceremony ended with the inevitable fireworks and after the crowds had departed, the cauldron burned bright in the moonlit night. Another Games had begun.

Date: September 2004

Author: This photo gallery features images from Rob Prezioso, Tony Naar and others.

The athletes gather for the final time. The Paralympic flag comes down. The flame is extinguished. It’s time to party to mark the end of a six week festival of sport in Sydney – the Olympics and Paralympics. Fireworks. And, as the lights go out, The Seekers sing “The Carnival is Over”.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

Since 1988 the Paralympics had taken place in the same venues as the Olympics that preceded them. In Sydney, almost all the venues were custom built for the Games and were the best to date. And they were often filled, thanks to an innovative ticket policy that gave spectators a day pass to all venues for just $15. Few who experienced the Games would ever forget the queues outside venues and the atmosphere inside. One of the noisiest was The Dome, where the finals of the wheelchair rugby saw crowds of 10,000, many stamping their feet on the temporary grandstands, as Australia won the semi-final by one point and lost the gold medal game by the same margin.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

Flag bearer Brendan Burkett and Chef de Mission Paul Bird led the Australian team into the stadium, cheered on by a crowd of 110,000 and a TV audience in the millions. The cauldron was lit by Louise Sauvage, after the torch was carried on its final leg around the stadium by athletes representing each Paralympic impairment category – winter great Michael Milton, first Indigenous Paralympian Kevin Coombs, and three who would compete in Sydney – Katrina Webb, Lisa Llorens and Anthony Clarke. Vision impaired swimmer Tracey Cross read the athletes’ oath, before the Games were opened by the Governor-General of Australia, Sir William Deane. 6,000 volunteers participated in the ceremony, including thousands of children, many repainting panels on the ground to create a changing tableau. Then followed a concert, featuring Australian artists such as Kylie Minogue and Yothu Yindi. It was an emotional and upbeat ceremony of celebration, created by Karen Richards.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

The Australian women’s basketball team, known as The Pearls, won Australia’s first ever medal in Olympic or Paralympic basketball at the 1992 “Paralympic Games for Persons with Mental Handicap“. Donna Burns was the star of the team, averaging 25 points a game. The team members were: Lorraine Archer, Tanya Atcheson, Donna Burns, Gladys Delaney, Melissa Gallacher, Fiona Hinds, Annette Kelly, Tina Kenna, Christine Humphries, Alice Toogood, with Coach Margaret Sheriff and Manager Robyn Smith.

Date: September 1992

Author: Norman Bailey, photographer.

The men’s 100m sprint event for men’s TS1 classification – leg amputees – at the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics was hotly contested. Australians Kerrod McGregor (far left) and Mark Whiteman (second from left) finished out of the medals, while Switzerland’s Lukas Christen launched himself at the line to take silver and a spectacular tumble. Christen is wearing new technology – a carbon fibre ‘blade’ leg, while most other runners are wearing older technology, ending in prosthetic feet inserted into standard running shoes.

Date: September 1992

Author: Norman Bailey, photographer

Scenes from the Closing Ceremony of the 1988 Seoul Paralympic Games.

Date: October 1988

In the Paralympic Village, the dining hall is a popular place to relax and meet people. The dining hall at the Athens summer Paralympics reused the huge marquee from the 2000 Sydney Games as the venue for its 18 hour-a-day buffet selection. And, of course, Maccas was popular for those who had finished competition. Outside the dining hall, you were likely to see the traditional ‘trains’ of blind athletes linked to a sighted team member. As in Sydney, the Village comprised low/medium density housing, adding massively wide, sloping streets and large public spaces, making it an 800m excursion by foot, wheelchair or village shuttle bus to go to the dining hall or transport mall from the Australian compound. The team rented electric golf carts, which proved very popular for navigating the Village. The lack of landscaping, weeds and bare dirt gave it a rundown look, not offset by the marble tiles in every apartment and balcony. But, of course, you can always make your own fun!

Date: September 2004

Author: Photos in this gallery are from 2004 team members Lily Chiu, Michelle Fletcher, David Spurrier and Tony Naar

There were lots of stories surrounding the Australian team’s performances at the Athens summer Paralympics and cycling had more than its share. The biggest was the saga of Kieran Modra and his sighted pilots, Robert Crowe and David Short. Modra was selected on the team ahead of Lyn Lepore. However, Lepore appealed her non-selection on the basis that Modra’s selection was based on performances with two separate pilots, Crowe for endurance events and Short for sprint events. Lepore and Modra were at the team’s pre-Games camp in Italy when the appeal was heard in Australia, each knowing that one would leave the camp to go to Athens and the other to return to Australia. The appeal was successful and Modra was out. Enter APC President Greg Hartung, who managed to convince the relevant authorities to issue a ‘wildcard’ invitation to Modra to fill a vacant slot in the cycling program. After training alone in Italy, Modra and his pilots moved into the Village the night before the Games started. On the second day of competition, Modra and Crowe won Australia’s first gold medal of the Games in the 4000m pursuit, cheered on by Rod Kemp, Australia’s Minister for Sport, and his wife. Modra was determined to win a gold medal with Short in the sprint. However, in the first race of the semi-final, their front wheel disintegrated at 60kmh on the home straight, pitching them both onto the track in a shower of carbon fibre shards. They had 20 minutes to be patched up and ride the second race, then another 20 to ride the decider. They won both. An hour later: the final, against a canny pairing from Slovakia, who forced a slow pace, torture for the bloodied, bruised Aussies. The result was gold for Australia and a very emotional Modra, his teammates and the cycling staff.

Date: September 2004

Author: This photo gallery features images from Rob Prezioso, Tony Naar and others.

The logistics of any Games’ opening ceremony mean that there is a lot of waiting around for athletes before they march into the stadium. At the Athens summer Paralympics, members of the Australian team entertained themselves with a beach ball while they waited. The team was led into the opening ceremony by flag bearer Louise Sauvage, Chef de Mission Paul Bird and Paula Coghlan, one of the two team captains. Coghlan’s co-captain Chris Scott didn’t march because the track cycling competition began the next day and so none of the cycling team attended the opening ceremony. A giant olive tree, representing life, was the centrepiece of the opening ceremony. The ceremony ended with the inevitable fireworks and after the crowds had departed, the cauldron burned bright in the moonlit night. Another Games had begun.

Date: September 2004

Author: This photo gallery features images from Rob Prezioso, Tony Naar and others.

The athletes gather for the final time. The Paralympic flag comes down. The flame is extinguished. It’s time to party to mark the end of a six week festival of sport in Sydney – the Olympics and Paralympics. Fireworks. And, as the lights go out, The Seekers sing “The Carnival is Over”.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

Since 1988 the Paralympics had taken place in the same venues as the Olympics that preceded them. In Sydney, almost all the venues were custom built for the Games and were the best to date. And they were often filled, thanks to an innovative ticket policy that gave spectators a day pass to all venues for just $15. Few who experienced the Games would ever forget the queues outside venues and the atmosphere inside. One of the noisiest was The Dome, where the finals of the wheelchair rugby saw crowds of 10,000, many stamping their feet on the temporary grandstands, as Australia won the semi-final by one point and lost the gold medal game by the same margin.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

Flag bearer Brendan Burkett and Chef de Mission Paul Bird led the Australian team into the stadium, cheered on by a crowd of 110,000 and a TV audience in the millions. The cauldron was lit by Louise Sauvage, after the torch was carried on its final leg around the stadium by athletes representing each Paralympic impairment category – winter great Michael Milton, first Indigenous Paralympian Kevin Coombs, and three who would compete in Sydney – Katrina Webb, Lisa Llorens and Anthony Clarke. Vision impaired swimmer Tracey Cross read the athletes’ oath, before the Games were opened by the Governor-General of Australia, Sir William Deane. 6,000 volunteers participated in the ceremony, including thousands of children, many repainting panels on the ground to create a changing tableau. Then followed a concert, featuring Australian artists such as Kylie Minogue and Yothu Yindi. It was an emotional and upbeat ceremony of celebration, created by Karen Richards.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

The Australian women’s basketball team, known as The Pearls, won Australia’s first ever medal in Olympic or Paralympic basketball at the 1992 “Paralympic Games for Persons with Mental Handicap“. Donna Burns was the star of the team, averaging 25 points a game. The team members were: Lorraine Archer, Tanya Atcheson, Donna Burns, Gladys Delaney, Melissa Gallacher, Fiona Hinds, Annette Kelly, Tina Kenna, Christine Humphries, Alice Toogood, with Coach Margaret Sheriff and Manager Robyn Smith.

Date: September 1992

Author: Norman Bailey, photographer.

The men’s 100m sprint event for men’s TS1 classification – leg amputees – at the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics was hotly contested. Australians Kerrod McGregor (far left) and Mark Whiteman (second from left) finished out of the medals, while Switzerland’s Lukas Christen launched himself at the line to take silver and a spectacular tumble. Christen is wearing new technology – a carbon fibre ‘blade’ leg, while most other runners are wearing older technology, ending in prosthetic feet inserted into standard running shoes.

Date: September 1992

Author: Norman Bailey, photographer

Scenes from the Closing Ceremony of the 1988 Seoul Paralympic Games.

Date: October 1988

In the Paralympic Village, the dining hall is a popular place to relax and meet people. The dining hall at the Athens summer Paralympics reused the huge marquee from the 2000 Sydney Games as the venue for its 18 hour-a-day buffet selection. And, of course, Maccas was popular for those who had finished competition. Outside the dining hall, you were likely to see the traditional ‘trains’ of blind athletes linked to a sighted team member. As in Sydney, the Village comprised low/medium density housing, adding massively wide, sloping streets and large public spaces, making it an 800m excursion by foot, wheelchair or village shuttle bus to go to the dining hall or transport mall from the Australian compound. The team rented electric golf carts, which proved very popular for navigating the Village. The lack of landscaping, weeds and bare dirt gave it a rundown look, not offset by the marble tiles in every apartment and balcony. But, of course, you can always make your own fun!

Date: September 2004

Author: Photos in this gallery are from 2004 team members Lily Chiu, Michelle Fletcher, David Spurrier and Tony Naar

There were lots of stories surrounding the Australian team’s performances at the Athens summer Paralympics and cycling had more than its share. The biggest was the saga of Kieran Modra and his sighted pilots, Robert Crowe and David Short. Modra was selected on the team ahead of Lyn Lepore. However, Lepore appealed her non-selection on the basis that Modra’s selection was based on performances with two separate pilots, Crowe for endurance events and Short for sprint events. Lepore and Modra were at the team’s pre-Games camp in Italy when the appeal was heard in Australia, each knowing that one would leave the camp to go to Athens and the other to return to Australia. The appeal was successful and Modra was out. Enter APC President Greg Hartung, who managed to convince the relevant authorities to issue a ‘wildcard’ invitation to Modra to fill a vacant slot in the cycling program. After training alone in Italy, Modra and his pilots moved into the Village the night before the Games started. On the second day of competition, Modra and Crowe won Australia’s first gold medal of the Games in the 4000m pursuit, cheered on by Rod Kemp, Australia’s Minister for Sport, and his wife. Modra was determined to win a gold medal with Short in the sprint. However, in the first race of the semi-final, their front wheel disintegrated at 60kmh on the home straight, pitching them both onto the track in a shower of carbon fibre shards. They had 20 minutes to be patched up and ride the second race, then another 20 to ride the decider. They won both. An hour later: the final, against a canny pairing from Slovakia, who forced a slow pace, torture for the bloodied, bruised Aussies. The result was gold for Australia and a very emotional Modra, his teammates and the cycling staff.

Date: September 2004

Author: This photo gallery features images from Rob Prezioso, Tony Naar and others.

The logistics of any Games’ opening ceremony mean that there is a lot of waiting around for athletes before they march into the stadium. At the Athens summer Paralympics, members of the Australian team entertained themselves with a beach ball while they waited. The team was led into the opening ceremony by flag bearer Louise Sauvage, Chef de Mission Paul Bird and Paula Coghlan, one of the two team captains. Coghlan’s co-captain Chris Scott didn’t march because the track cycling competition began the next day and so none of the cycling team attended the opening ceremony. A giant olive tree, representing life, was the centrepiece of the opening ceremony. The ceremony ended with the inevitable fireworks and after the crowds had departed, the cauldron burned bright in the moonlit night. Another Games had begun.

Date: September 2004

Author: This photo gallery features images from Rob Prezioso, Tony Naar and others.

The athletes gather for the final time. The Paralympic flag comes down. The flame is extinguished. It’s time to party to mark the end of a six week festival of sport in Sydney – the Olympics and Paralympics. Fireworks. And, as the lights go out, The Seekers sing “The Carnival is Over”.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

Since 1988 the Paralympics had taken place in the same venues as the Olympics that preceded them. In Sydney, almost all the venues were custom built for the Games and were the best to date. And they were often filled, thanks to an innovative ticket policy that gave spectators a day pass to all venues for just $15. Few who experienced the Games would ever forget the queues outside venues and the atmosphere inside. One of the noisiest was The Dome, where the finals of the wheelchair rugby saw crowds of 10,000, many stamping their feet on the temporary grandstands, as Australia won the semi-final by one point and lost the gold medal game by the same margin.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

Flag bearer Brendan Burkett and Chef de Mission Paul Bird led the Australian team into the stadium, cheered on by a crowd of 110,000 and a TV audience in the millions. The cauldron was lit by Louise Sauvage, after the torch was carried on its final leg around the stadium by athletes representing each Paralympic impairment category – winter great Michael Milton, first Indigenous Paralympian Kevin Coombs, and three who would compete in Sydney – Katrina Webb, Lisa Llorens and Anthony Clarke. Vision impaired swimmer Tracey Cross read the athletes’ oath, before the Games were opened by the Governor-General of Australia, Sir William Deane. 6,000 volunteers participated in the ceremony, including thousands of children, many repainting panels on the ground to create a changing tableau. Then followed a concert, featuring Australian artists such as Kylie Minogue and Yothu Yindi. It was an emotional and upbeat ceremony of celebration, created by Karen Richards.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

The Australian women’s basketball team, known as The Pearls, won Australia’s first ever medal in Olympic or Paralympic basketball at the 1992 “Paralympic Games for Persons with Mental Handicap“. Donna Burns was the star of the team, averaging 25 points a game. The team members were: Lorraine Archer, Tanya Atcheson, Donna Burns, Gladys Delaney, Melissa Gallacher, Fiona Hinds, Annette Kelly, Tina Kenna, Christine Humphries, Alice Toogood, with Coach Margaret Sheriff and Manager Robyn Smith.

Date: September 1992

Author: Norman Bailey, photographer.

The men’s 100m sprint event for men’s TS1 classification – leg amputees – at the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics was hotly contested. Australians Kerrod McGregor (far left) and Mark Whiteman (second from left) finished out of the medals, while Switzerland’s Lukas Christen launched himself at the line to take silver and a spectacular tumble. Christen is wearing new technology – a carbon fibre ‘blade’ leg, while most other runners are wearing older technology, ending in prosthetic feet inserted into standard running shoes.

Date: September 1992

Author: Norman Bailey, photographer

Scenes from the Closing Ceremony of the 1988 Seoul Paralympic Games.

Date: October 1988

In the Paralympic Village, the dining hall is a popular place to relax and meet people. The dining hall at the Athens summer Paralympics reused the huge marquee from the 2000 Sydney Games as the venue for its 18 hour-a-day buffet selection. And, of course, Maccas was popular for those who had finished competition. Outside the dining hall, you were likely to see the traditional ‘trains’ of blind athletes linked to a sighted team member. As in Sydney, the Village comprised low/medium density housing, adding massively wide, sloping streets and large public spaces, making it an 800m excursion by foot, wheelchair or village shuttle bus to go to the dining hall or transport mall from the Australian compound. The team rented electric golf carts, which proved very popular for navigating the Village. The lack of landscaping, weeds and bare dirt gave it a rundown look, not offset by the marble tiles in every apartment and balcony. But, of course, you can always make your own fun!

Date: September 2004

Author: Photos in this gallery are from 2004 team members Lily Chiu, Michelle Fletcher, David Spurrier and Tony Naar

There were lots of stories surrounding the Australian team’s performances at the Athens summer Paralympics and cycling had more than its share. The biggest was the saga of Kieran Modra and his sighted pilots, Robert Crowe and David Short. Modra was selected on the team ahead of Lyn Lepore. However, Lepore appealed her non-selection on the basis that Modra’s selection was based on performances with two separate pilots, Crowe for endurance events and Short for sprint events. Lepore and Modra were at the team’s pre-Games camp in Italy when the appeal was heard in Australia, each knowing that one would leave the camp to go to Athens and the other to return to Australia. The appeal was successful and Modra was out. Enter APC President Greg Hartung, who managed to convince the relevant authorities to issue a ‘wildcard’ invitation to Modra to fill a vacant slot in the cycling program. After training alone in Italy, Modra and his pilots moved into the Village the night before the Games started. On the second day of competition, Modra and Crowe won Australia’s first gold medal of the Games in the 4000m pursuit, cheered on by Rod Kemp, Australia’s Minister for Sport, and his wife. Modra was determined to win a gold medal with Short in the sprint. However, in the first race of the semi-final, their front wheel disintegrated at 60kmh on the home straight, pitching them both onto the track in a shower of carbon fibre shards. They had 20 minutes to be patched up and ride the second race, then another 20 to ride the decider. They won both. An hour later: the final, against a canny pairing from Slovakia, who forced a slow pace, torture for the bloodied, bruised Aussies. The result was gold for Australia and a very emotional Modra, his teammates and the cycling staff.

Date: September 2004

Author: This photo gallery features images from Rob Prezioso, Tony Naar and others.

The logistics of any Games’ opening ceremony mean that there is a lot of waiting around for athletes before they march into the stadium. At the Athens summer Paralympics, members of the Australian team entertained themselves with a beach ball while they waited. The team was led into the opening ceremony by flag bearer Louise Sauvage, Chef de Mission Paul Bird and Paula Coghlan, one of the two team captains. Coghlan’s co-captain Chris Scott didn’t march because the track cycling competition began the next day and so none of the cycling team attended the opening ceremony. A giant olive tree, representing life, was the centrepiece of the opening ceremony. The ceremony ended with the inevitable fireworks and after the crowds had departed, the cauldron burned bright in the moonlit night. Another Games had begun.

Date: September 2004

Author: This photo gallery features images from Rob Prezioso, Tony Naar and others.

The athletes gather for the final time. The Paralympic flag comes down. The flame is extinguished. It’s time to party to mark the end of a six week festival of sport in Sydney – the Olympics and Paralympics. Fireworks. And, as the lights go out, The Seekers sing “The Carnival is Over”.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

Since 1988 the Paralympics had taken place in the same venues as the Olympics that preceded them. In Sydney, almost all the venues were custom built for the Games and were the best to date. And they were often filled, thanks to an innovative ticket policy that gave spectators a day pass to all venues for just $15. Few who experienced the Games would ever forget the queues outside venues and the atmosphere inside. One of the noisiest was The Dome, where the finals of the wheelchair rugby saw crowds of 10,000, many stamping their feet on the temporary grandstands, as Australia won the semi-final by one point and lost the gold medal game by the same margin.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

Flag bearer Brendan Burkett and Chef de Mission Paul Bird led the Australian team into the stadium, cheered on by a crowd of 110,000 and a TV audience in the millions. The cauldron was lit by Louise Sauvage, after the torch was carried on its final leg around the stadium by athletes representing each Paralympic impairment category – winter great Michael Milton, first Indigenous Paralympian Kevin Coombs, and three who would compete in Sydney – Katrina Webb, Lisa Llorens and Anthony Clarke. Vision impaired swimmer Tracey Cross read the athletes’ oath, before the Games were opened by the Governor-General of Australia, Sir William Deane. 6,000 volunteers participated in the ceremony, including thousands of children, many repainting panels on the ground to create a changing tableau. Then followed a concert, featuring Australian artists such as Kylie Minogue and Yothu Yindi. It was an emotional and upbeat ceremony of celebration, created by Karen Richards.

Date: October 2000

Author: Image by Sport The Library. All rights held by Paralympics Australia.

The Australian women’s basketball team, known as The Pearls, won Australia’s first ever medal in Olympic or Paralympic basketball at the 1992 “Paralympic Games for Persons with Mental Handicap“. Donna Burns was the star of the team, averaging 25 points a game. The team members were: Lorraine Archer, Tanya Atcheson, Donna Burns, Gladys Delaney, Melissa Gallacher, Fiona Hinds, Annette Kelly, Tina Kenna, Christine Humphries, Alice Toogood, with Coach Margaret Sheriff and Manager Robyn Smith.

Date: September 1992

Author: Norman Bailey, photographer.

The men’s 100m sprint event for men’s TS1 classification – leg amputees – at the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics was hotly contested. Australians Kerrod McGregor (far left) and Mark Whiteman (second from left) finished out of the medals, while Switzerland’s Lukas Christen launched himself at the line to take silver and a spectacular tumble. Christen is wearing new technology – a carbon fibre ‘blade’ leg, while most other runners are wearing older technology, ending in prosthetic feet inserted into standard running shoes.

Date: September 1992

Author: Norman Bailey, photographer

Scenes from the Closing Ceremony of the 1988 Seoul Paralympic Games.

Date: October 1988

In the Paralympic Village, the dining hall is a popular place to relax and meet people. The dining hall at the Athens summer Paralympics reused the huge marquee from the 2000 Sydney Games as the venue for its 18 hour-a-day buffet selection. And, of course, Maccas was popular for those who had finished competition. Outside the dining hall, you were likely to see the traditional ‘trains’ of blind athletes linked to a sighted team member. As in Sydney, the Village comprised low/medium density housing, adding massively wide, sloping streets and large public spaces, making it an 800m excursion by foot, wheelchair or village shuttle bus to go to the dining hall or transport mall from the Australian compound. The team rented electric golf carts, which proved very popular for navigating the Village. The lack of landscaping, weeds and bare dirt gave it a rundown look, not offset by the marble tiles in every apartment and balcony. But, of course, you can always make your own fun!

Date: September 2004

Author: Photos in this gallery are from 2004 team members Lily Chiu, Michelle Fletcher, David Spurrier and Tony Naar