The United States competed at the 1968 Summer Paralympics in Tel Aviv, Israel from November 4 to 13, 1968. The team finished first out of the twenty-eight competing nations in the medal table and won ninety-nine medals: thirty-three gold, twenty-seven silver and thirty-nine bronze. Eighty-two American athletes took part; fifty-three men and twenty-nine women.

Ed Owen won medals in six different sports; nine golds and a bronze in athletics, two golds in swimming and a silver in wheelchair basketball.

Disability classifications

The Paralympics groups athletes' disabilities into one of five disability categories; amputation, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories; 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. 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.

Medalists

The following United States athletes won medals at the Games; MedalNameSportEvent Arballo Archery Men's St. Nicholas round paraplegic ClassonReno LevisO'Donnell Archery Men's Columbia round team open GeissingerKelderhouseKlemens Archery Men's Albion round team open BranumChessGary OdorowskiRoman Athletics Men's 4x40 m relay open C. GiesseKeyserStratman Athletics Women's 4x40 m relay open Athletics Women's 60 m wheelchair A Athletics Women's slalom A Athletics Women's javelin throw B Kirn Athletics Women's javelin throw A Kirn Athletics Women's shot put A Athletics Men's 100 m wheelchair C Athletics Men's club throw special class Athletics Men's discus throw special class Athletics Men's pentathlon special class Athletics Men's shot put special class Roman Athletics Men's Novices 60 m wheelchair Dash C Athletics Men's club throw C Athletics Men's pentathlon incomplete Athletics Men's javelin throw B GeissingerKelderhouse Dartchery Mixed Pairs open Ailes Swimming Women's 50 m breaststroke class 4 complete Ailes Swimming Women's 50 m freestyle class 4 complete Branum Swimming Men's 100 m freestyle open Chrysler Swimming Men's 50 m backstroke class 3 complete Chrysler Swimming Men's 50 m freestyle class 3 complete Crase Swimming Men's 25 m breaststroke class 1 complete Foust Swimming Men's 50 m freestyle class 4 complete Gorman Swimming Women's 25 m breaststroke class 1 complete Kaminski Swimming Women's 50 m backstroke class 4 complete Moore Swimming Women's 25 m freestyle class 1 complete Swimming Men's 100 m breaststroke open Swimming Men's 50 m breaststroke special class DunnMcNichol Table tennis Men's doubles A1 Archery Men's Columbia round open Soulek Archery Women's Columbia round open Webb Archery Women's Albion round open Branum Athletics Men's 100 m wheelchair C Branum Athletics Men's pentathlon special class Cameron Athletics Men's javelin throw special class Demorest Athletics Men's discus throw special class Gianino Athletics Men's slalom cervical class Gurman Athletics Women's slalom cervical class Keyser Athletics Women's 60 m wheelchair C Kirn Athletics Women's 60 m wheelchair A Athletics Men's discus throw C Athletics Men's 100 m wheelchair B Athletics Men's club throw B Lawn bowls Women's Pairs Soulek Lawn bowls Women's singles Branum Swimming Men's 50 m backstroke special class Cornett Swimming Women's 25 m freestyle class 2 complete Crase Swimming Men's 25 m freestyle class 1 complete Gorman Swimming Women's 25 m backstroke class 1 complete Gorman Swimming Women's 25 m freestyle class 1 complete Moore Swimming Women's 25 m breaststroke class 1 complete Moore Swimming Women's 25 m freestyle class 2 incomplete Pollock Swimming Men's 50 m freestyle class 4 incomplete Soulek Swimming Women's 25 m backstroke class 2 complete Vincent Swimming Men's 25 m backstroke class 2 complete Wheelchair basketball Men Cornett Archery Women's Columbia round open GeissingerKelderhouseKlemens Archery Men's FITA round team open Klemens Archery Men's Albion round open Moore Archery Women's St. Nicholas round paraplegic Webb Archery Women's FITA round open Arballo Athletics Men's discus throw C Bindley Athletics Women's discus throw B Cameron Athletics Men's club throw special class Chrysler Athletics Men's shot put C Cornett Athletics Women's 60 m wheelchair A Cornett Athletics Women's pentathlon complete Cornett Athletics Women's slalom A Dunn Athletics Men's slalom cervical class Feltes Athletics Men's Novices 60 m wheelchair Dash C Athletics Women's Precision javelin throw open Athletics Women's shot put B Kirn Athletics Women's club throw A Kirn Athletics Women's discus throw A Athletics Men's javelin throw C Athletics Men's Precision javelin throw open Athletics Men's javelin throw special class Lawn bowls Women's singles Lionetti Lawn bowls Men's singles Vincent Lawn bowls Men's Pairs Swimming Men's 3x50 m medley relay open Branum Swimming Men's 3x25 m individual medley open Cornett Swimming Women's 25 m breaststroke class 2 complete Dunn Swimming Men's 25 m backstroke class 1 complete Fiorello Swimming Men's 50 m backstroke class 3 incomplete Stratman Swimming Women's 50 m backstroke class 5 (cauda equina) Vincent Swimming Men's 25 m breaststroke class 2 complete Vincent Swimming Men's 25 m freestyle class 2 complete CraseDonaldson Table tennis Men's doubles A1 GormanMoore Table tennis Women's doubles A2 McNichol Table tennis Men's singles A1 Moore Table tennis Women's singles A1 Jensen Weightlifting Men's Middleweight Rossini Weightlifting Men's Heavyweight Wheelchair basketball Women

Dartchery

The only dartchery event at the Games was the mixed pairs event which took a knockout format. The United States was represented by Geissinger and Kelderhouse; the pair beat athletes from Jamaica, Italy and Australia to set up a semi-final meeting with Tanaka and Matsumoto of Japan. The Americans won the match and went on to defeat a second Australian pair in the final round to win the gold medal.

Wheelchair basketball

America entered teams in both the men's and women's wheelchair basketball events and won medals in each. The women's event took the form of a single pool stage with medals awarded to the top three teams. The USA team won two matches and lost two matches, scoring 31 points and conceding 30, to finish in third place and take the bronze medal. The men's event featured a pool stage followed by a knockout competition. The USA men beat Great Britain and the Switzerland and Germany to advance to the quarterfinals. They then beat Argentina and Great Britain again to reach the gold medal match. Facing the hosts Israel, USA lost 47–37 and had to settle for the silver medals.

See also United States at the 1968 Summer Olympics

Notes

References