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John Harris (wheelchair athlete)

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John Harris
Personal information
Full nameJohn Harris
NationalityBritish
Born1945 (age 78–79)
Sebastopol, Wales
Sport
Country Great Britain
SportAthletics
Event(s)Discus
Pentathlon
Javelin throw
Achievements and titles
Paralympic finals1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
Medal record
Track and field (athletics)
Representing  Great Britain
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1984 Stoke Mandeville Discus – 5
Silver medal – second place 1988 Seoul Discus – 5
Bronze medal – third place 1988 Seoul Pentathlon

John Harris (born 1945) is a former Paralympic athlete from Wales competing mainly in category 5 throwing events. In 1984 he became the world record holder in the discus winning gold at the Summer Paralympics, following this with silver in the discus and bronze in the Pentathlon four years later.

Career history

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Harris was born in Sebastopol, Torfaen, a suburb of Pontypool in south Wales.[1] A keen athlete as a youth, Harris was involved in gymnastics, rugby union and boxing. At the age of 18, Harris was on holiday at a Butlins holiday camp when he fell 18 metres from a big wheel resulting in the paralysis of his legs.[2] The injury left him hospital for five months, and after his release he "wasted the next three years in the pub".[3]

Harris' involvement in parasports began when a friend persuaded him to attend a gym in an attempt to improve his fitness and give him focus. Harris then joined a paraplegic sports club and showed promising as a competitor after winning multiple events at a local sport event.[3] His progress was noticed and the next year he was selected for the 1980 Summer Paralympics in Arnhem in the Netherlands. Harris entered three events, the category 5 discus and shot put and the 85 kg Light-heavyweight weightlifting, but failed to medal.[4][5]

Four years later Harris was back in the Great Britain team at the 1984 Summer Paralympics. Harris originally decided to not apply for the team, after being disgusted at what he saw was the poor treatment of Paralympic athletes in comparison to their Olympic counterparts. He believed that Atlanta should not have been allowed to pull out of hosting the Paralympic sport in 1980, but was talked around to taking part by a friend.[3] At the Games, held at short notice in Stoke Mandeville, England, Harris was entered for the discus, shot put and javelin.[4] Before taking part in the events, he was chosen to take the Paralympic Oath on behalf of all the athletes, an event he described as a "phenomenal honour".[3][6] Although Harris did not finish in the top three in either javelin or shot put, his main focus for a medal was the discus. Before his final attempt he was sitting in sixth place, but his Paralympic record breaking throw gave him the gold medal.[3]

Harris states that his outlook to life changed after the games, becoming less self-centered and in 1986 he joined up with his training partner and good friend Chris Hallam, who was also an outstanding Paralympic athlete having won gold in the pool at Stoke Mandeville.[7] The two decided to raise funds for, and awareness of, disability sport by taking part in a 400-mile wheelchair trip around Wales in just 11 days.[3][7] This led to a further fund raising event in 1997 when the two men completed 600-mile in 37 days.[8] The funds they raised allowed for the building of national centre for disability sport to be built at the University of Wales Institute, at the Cyncoed Campus site.[3][7]

In 1988 Harris took part in his third Summer Paralympics, joining the Great Britain team when they travelled to Seoul. He entered two events, the category 5–6 pentathlon and the discus. In the discus he threw 34.98m, to take silver, 1.70m behind the eventual winner Egypt's Mohamed Abdulla Mohamed.[9] He finished fourth in the pentathlon, but was later awarded the bronze medal.[10][nb 1]

Harris took part in two more Summer Paralympics though he did not medal again. At the 1992 Games in Barcelona he competed in the javelin, pentathlon and 4 × 100 m relay, while in 1996 he represented Britain in the Pentathlon.[4]

Awards and honours

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Harris was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1986 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews.[citation needed]

In 2013 Harris was inducted into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame.[11]

Footnotes

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Notes
  1. ^ Although the Paralympic record of the Pentathlon finals state that Harris finished fourth, in contemporary reports Harris is recorded as winning the bronze in the Seoul Pentathlon which is supported by images of Harris showing his three medals including a bronze and silver Seoul medal here.
References
  1. ^ Mills, Hayley (9 May 2013). "Sebastopol man John Harris, a former Paralympian, will climb Mount Kilimanjaro". southwalesargus.co.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  2. ^ "Pontypool Paralympian inspires youngsters". southwalesargus.co.uk. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Hitt, Carolyn (25 August 2012). "My Paralympic epiphany came in a Tyneside tunnel". Western Mail. walesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  4. ^ a b c "Harris, John". paralympic.org. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  5. ^ "Athletes gather for first-ever Paralympian Reunion". paralympic.org. 8 September 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  6. ^ "Athletes from 1984". mandevillelegacy.org.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  7. ^ a b c "Chris Hallam". telegraph.co.uk. 19 August 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
  8. ^ "Pioneering Paralympian Chris Hallam MBE, laid to rest in Cwmbran". southwalesargus.co.uk. 4 September 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  9. ^ "Seoul 1988 Paralympic Games: Athletics Men's Discus 5". paralympic.org. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  10. ^ "Seoul 1988 Paralympic Games: Athletics Men's Pentathlon 5–6 5". paralympic.org. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  11. ^ "Welsh Sports Hall of Fame Dinner". welshrugbypics.co.uk. 17 May 2013. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
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