Switzerland at the 1960 Summer Paralympics

Switzerland at the Paralympic Games

Flag of Switzerland
IPC code  SUI
NPC Swiss Paralympic Committee
At the 1960 Summer Paralympics in Rome
Competitors 2
Medals
Rank: 13		 Gold
1		 Silver
3		 Bronze
0		 Total
4
Paralympic history (summary)
Summer Games
Winter Games

Switzerland was one of the seventeen nations that competed at the inaugural Summer Paralympic Games in 1960 held in Rome, Italy, from September 19 to 24, 1960.[1][2] Preparations for the Games began two years prior in 1958 to stage what was at the time called the 9th Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games.[3] The team finished thirteenth in the medal table with a total of four medals, one gold and three silver.[4] The Swiss team consisted of two athletes: Denis Favre, a man who competed in athletics and swimming events, and Simone Knusli, a woman who competed in swimming.[1]

Disability classifications

Athletes at the first Paralympics in 1960 were all afflicted by spinal cord injuries and required the use of a wheelchair.[3] This is in contrast to later Paralympics that include events for participants that fit into any of five different disability categories; amputation, either congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes; visual impairment, including blindness; Les autres, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example dwarfism or multiple sclerosis.[5][6] Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent upon the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing.[7]

Athletics

Denis Favre took part in two field events; the men's javelin C and the men's shot put C.[8] In the javelin Favre threw 21.71 metres to win the silver medal; gold was won by Enzo Santini of host nation Italy, who threw 22.90 metres, and the bronze medal went to Hepple of Great Britain.[9] Favre also won the silver medal in the shot put; his distance of 8.05 metres split the American pair of Ron Stein and Welger who took gold and bronze medals with distances of 10.13 metres and 7.77 metres respectively.[10]

Swimming

Both of the Swiss athletes took part in a swimming event at the Games. Each won a medal as their events contained only three competitors.[8] Denis Favre won the gold medal in the men's 50 metres crawl complete class 5, beating his nearest rival Sznitowski of Argentina by 0.2 seconds.[11] In the women's 25 metres breaststroke complete class 2 Simone Knusli won the silver medal after finishing 2.1 seconds behind the winner of the event, Great Britain's Susan Masham.[12]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Participation Numbers Rome 1960 Paralympic Games". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  2. ↑ "Paralympic Games History – Summer". Australian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  3. 1 2 "Paralympic Games Rome 1960 IPC Celebrates 50 Years After Rome". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  4. ↑ "Medal Standings Rome 1960 Paralympic Games". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  5. ↑ "Paralympics categories explained". ABC. 3 September 2008. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
  6. ↑ "Making sense of the categories". BBC Sport. 6 October 2000. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  7. ↑ "A-Z of Paralympic classification". BBC Sport. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  8. 1 2 "Athlete Search Results Switzerland 1960". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  9. ↑ "Results Rome 1960 Paralympic Games Athletics Men's Javelin C". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  10. ↑ "Results Rome 1960 Paralympic Games Athletics Men's Shot Put C". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  11. ↑ "Results Rome 1960 Paralympic Games Swimming". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  12. ↑ "Results Rome 1960 Paralympic Games Swimming Women's 25 m Breaststroke complete class 2". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
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