Neroli Fairhall

Neroli Susan Fairhall (born August 26, 1944 in Christchurch , Canterbury , New Zealand, † June 11, 2006 in Wellington ) was a New Zealand athlete who was the first person with paraplegia to take part in the Olympic Games .

Life

Fairhall grew up in Canterbury . There she belonged to the Pony Club and represented her home club in national competitions. After being paraplegic from the stomach down in a motorcycle accident in Port Hills from the age of 24 , she was forced to retire from her equestrian career.

Instead, she started playing disabled sports after her accident . At first she tried her hand at track and field . She took Eve Rimmer , an athlete from New Zealand who was the most famous disabled athlete at the time, as a model. In 1972 she first took part in the Paralympic Games , in discus throwing , hammer throwing and the shot put . Then she switched to archery . From 1976 she took part in national competitions in New Zealand and finished third. In 1979 she was allowed to participate for New Zealand at the Australian National Championships in Perth . In total, she took part in five world championships in archery, most recently in Turkey in 1993.

She had already been nominated for the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow , but was unable to take part due to the boycott of the Games by most western states, including New Zealand. At the Paralympic Games in Arnhem in the same year she won a gold medal. In 1981 she entered the World Archery Championships in Punta Ala , Italy , where she finished 16th. In the 1982 archery competitions during the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane , she won a gold medal. For her appearance there she was nominated as New Zealand's Sportsman of the Year 1982 and made it to the finals. She also received the Lonsdale Cup from the New Zealand Olympic Committee . In 1984 she took part in the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and finished 35th. In 1988 and 2000 she took part in the Summer Paralympic Games.

In 1996 she wanted to take part in the Olympic Games a second time, but could not take part due to an injury. After the Summer Paralympics 2000 , she ended her active career. In addition to her international successes, she won several national championship titles in New Zealand. For her services to the sport, she was accepted as an honorary member of the Archery New Zealand and as a member of the Order of the British Empire . After retiring from active sports in 2001, she worked as a national archery coach and as an official for disabled sports in New Zealand.

Her response to a question from an English journalist after her victory at the Commonwealth Games whether it would be an advantage for her to shoot while sitting was quoted many times:

"I do not know. I've never shot standing up. "

"I dont know. I never shot while standing. "

- Neroli Fairhall

Indeed, this question had a serious background. Her rivals at the Olympic Games had previously claimed that her seated position gave her an advantage over the standing athletes.

Web links

• Obituary in the New Zealand Herald
• Website of the Olympic Movement - Neroli Fairhall (English, with picture)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Neroli Fairhall. New Zealand Olympic, accessed September 10, 2016 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Neroli Fairhall. Sports-Reference.com, accessed September 10, 2016 . 
3. ↑ Neroli Fairhall: Obituary: Neroli Fairhall. New Zealand Herald , June 16, 2006, accessed September 10, 2016 . 
4. ↑ Dave Henshaw: Neroli Fairhall MBE (PDF) (No longer available online.) Remembering.co.nz, archived from the original on September 15, 2016 ; accessed on September 10, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ Neroli Fairhall, Champion Archer, Dies at 61st New York Times , June 13, 2016, accessed September 10, 2016 .