Timeline - Paralympics

Year

1984

Our stories

Australia took a team of 58 athletes to the VII World Wheelchair Games, in Stoke Mandeville, and a team of 66 to the International Games for the Disabled, in New York.

Australia at the Stoke Mandeville and New York Summer Paralympics 1984

Our stories

List of the members of the 1984 Australian Paralympic Team for the New York Games, with links to the members’ Wikipedia articles.

1984 Summer Paralympics Australian Team List New York City/ Stoke Mandeville

"So it really didn't feel like a Paralympic Games"

Don Perriman on how the 1984 Games were split by an ocean

The first part of the 1984 Games was in New York

A plethora of Australian flags at the opening ceremony in New York

US President Ronald Reagan opened the Games in New York

Looking sharp in their opening ceremony clobber

Personal identity and accreditation card for Joe Egan

The amputee section was the largest and most successful in New York

Egan gets bronze in a blanket finish in the men’s A4 100m

Relay gold and the first Paralympic gold medal by an Indigenous Australian

Did spectators pay extra for a track-side view?

Just a minute Peter Trotter, shouldn’t you be in Stoke Mandeville?

Making a new friend in New York

“Home” during the Games

Move over Elizabeth, as young Anne makes a splash

Skateboards and Paralympic medals at the pool

The Closing Ceremony – a chance to have fun

The wheelchair competition was an ocean away, in England

GALLERY: Handwritten congratulations to the selected team

Just the one Aussie flag carried at the Stoke Mandeville opening

The Games opens, and Kevin Coombs gives Prince Charles a hat

Susan Davies added to Australia’s medal tradition in Archery

And Eric Klein continued the tradition of distinctive hats

The track team, ready to roll in Stoke Mandeville

Alan Dufty set the pace on the track

Peter Trotter saets off on the final leg of the 4x400m relay at the 1984 summer Paralympics. The Australian team finished third, some distance behind the first two teams, but still under the previous world record. This image is a still from a film made by Donald Worley about Australia's participation at the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville, England.

And Peter Trotter added a full set of individual medals

The satisfaction of a world record for Mike Nugent

A famous victory at the home of the Paralympic movement

Was Mike Nugent channelling this guy?

A touch on the shoulder and on the way

Thin was in for racing chairs, but so was feet first

Well, a Ferrari from those days looks a bit dated also…

Big Terry winds up for discus gold

Always good to have your teammates behind you, especially in javelin

Tip-off, as Australia takes on Great Britain in basketball

A scene for the wheelchair basketball game between Australian and Great Britain at the 1984 summer Paralympics. Great Britain won the game. This image is a still from a film made by Donald Worley about Australia's participation at the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville, England.

Reclassification of several players affected the basketball team’s line-ups

Libby Kosmala lets nothing distract her from dominating her sport

And Barbara Caspers chimed in with four shooting golds of her own

Wayne Ryding was one of just two Aussie gold medalists in the Stoke Mandeville pool

“Marathon runners, on your marks…” for the first Paralympic marathon

Jan Randles examines her raw hands after winning the women's class 4 wheelchair marathon at the 1984 summer Paralympics. It was the first Paralympic Games marathon. This image is a still from a film made by Donald Worley about Australia's participation at the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville, England.

Jan Randles was Australia’s first female marathon gold medallist

Welcome home for Caspers and Kosmala

Our stories

Looking for more about the 1984 summer Paralympics? Here are some links you can visit and ideas to find out more.

Want more?

© 2026 Australian Paralympic Committee
Web Design and Development by NOUS