1964 Summer Paralympics

Sports

Nine sports were competed at the 1964 games. In athletics, a wheelchair racing event in the form of a 60 m dash was added; previously the athletics program had included only field events. Wheelchair racing has since become one of the most prominent Paralympic events.

• Archery
• Athletics
• Dartchery
• Snooker
• Swimming
• Table tennis
• Weightlifting
• Wheelchair basketball
• Wheelchair fencing

Medal table

Main article: 1964 Summer Paralympics medal table

The physical medals themselves were created by a team of patients led by engineering instructor George Butler. The medals awarded displayed an engraving of a globe on one side paired with an image of the sport awarded on the other. Due to the fact that this was the first time the games were called the Paralympics, the words written on the medals said "Stoke Mandeville International Games – Tokyo 1964." The medals were also engraved and coated by George Butler himself.

Athletes from 17 of the 19 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) won at least one medal. By default, the table is ordered by the number of gold medals the athletes from a nation have won. The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If nations are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically by IPC country code.

With a few exceptions, each event contributed one medal of each type to the table (although for team events, multiple physical medals were actually awarded). Two bronze medals were awarded in the dartchery, snooker and table tennis events. Some swimming events did not award silver or bronze medals.

Inaccurate reports

At the start of the Paralympic Games there was no precision in reporting the results of the competitions. The Israeli athlete Michal Escapa was reported to be of Italian nationality and without a first name, as she is mentioned in the International Paralympic Committee of the Italian Paralympic Committee web sites) for the reports of the Swimming at the 1964 Summer Paralympics where she won two bronze medals, simply reported as Escapa and not as Michal Escapa. However, as can be seen from a 1968 Israeli newspaper reporting an interview with the athlete, she was the same athlete who had won medals in swimming and table tennis in Tokyo 1964.

• To sort this table by nation, total medal count, or any other column, click on the [[File:Sort both.gif|link=|alt=]] icon next to the column title.

Athletes with outstanding performances included Margaret Harriman of Rhodesia who won two gold medals in archery, and Serge Bec of France who won two individuals gold medals, one team gold medal and one team silver medal. Dick Thompson of the United Kingdom won two individual golds, one silver and one bronze in athletics. The United States' Ron Stein won six golds and South Africa's Daniel Erasmus won two golds and two silvers in athletics.

Participating delegations

Nineteen delegations participated in the Tokyo Paralympics.

The 1964 Games marked Austria, Fiji, Japan and South Africa's Paralympic Games début. South Africa had just been banned from taking part in the 1964 Summer Olympic Games, due to its policy of apartheid. It was not, however, banned from the Paralympics until 1980 Summer Paralympics, as Japan (in a host country position) did not oppose its participation. A letter from archery medalist Irene Preslipski published in the Times Leader on December 1, 1964, also mentions delegations from Ceylon, Mexico and the Philippines marching in the opening ceremony. However, these countries only sent in officials.

• ARG
• AUS
• AUT
• BEL
• FIJ
• FRA
• GBR
• IRL
• ISR
• ITA
• JPN
• MLT
• NED
• RHO
• RSA
• SWE
• SUI
• USA
• FRG

Ceremonies

The Opening ceremony was organized in the Yoyogi Park, and the Closing Ceremony at Yoyogi National Gymnasium. About 5000 spectators were present at both of the ceremonies. Then Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko were present in both of them.

Media Coverage & Reception

Earlier it was thought that the Games might not get much media coverage, due to the focus on the Olympic Games, but both radio and television media gave high coverage to the Games.

Most coverage in the media viewed the new Paralympics highly, and considered its new execution very well-done. The dedication to those with a variety of disabilities was thought to contribute to overall "international goodwill." This also made the Paralympic organization seem more "humane" since it was thought to be a good way of integrating disabled people into social and work environments.

British press was notably criticized by the founder of the games, Dr Ludwig Guttmann, for what he considered to be "poor coverage" of the games. He felt that in comparison to other countries, British press seemed to view the Paralympics not as a sports event, but as standard news.

Organizing Committee

Yoshisuke Kasai was the chairman of the board of directors. The board had 3 vice-chairmen, namely T. Azuma, H. Dazai and I. Miki. The auditor of the organizing committee was M. Tozawa, and the secretary general was K. Ujiie.

References

References

1. "SUMMER PARALYMPIC GAMES OVERVIEW". International Paralympic Committee.
2. [http://www.dinf.ne.jp/doc/japanese/resource/handicap/bok001/bok001all.html The Thirteenth International Stoke Mandeville Games for The Paralysed], dinf.ne.jp, March 17, 1999
3. [http://www.paralympic.org/export/sites/default/Media_Centre/Media_Information/2008_07_History_and_Use_of_Term_Paralympic.pdf History and Use of the Term Paralympic] {{Webarchive. link. (2011-12-16 , [[International Paralympic Committee]] (IPC))
4. [http://www.paralympic.org/Paralympic_Games/Past_Games/Rome_1960/ Rome 1960], [[International Paralympic Committee]] (IPC)
5. [http://www.paralympic.org/Sport/Results/index.html?type=npc#athlete IPC searchable database]
6. (2008). "Tokyo 1964". [[International Paralympic Committee]].
7. "Tokyo 1964".
8. "Medallists Tokyo 1964 Paralympic Games Dartchery". International Paralympic Committee.
9. "Medallists Tokyo 1964 Paralympic Games Snooker". International Paralympic Committee.
10. "Medallists Tokyo 1964 Paralympic Games Table Tennis". International Paralympic Committee.
11. "Medallists Tokyo 1964 Paralympic Games Swimming". International Paralympic Committee.
12. "Swimming - Women's 25 m Breaststroke Incomplete class 2".
13. "Media Guide Tokyo 2020".
14. "Michael Escapa - Profile".
15. "Escapa - Profile".
16. (27 September 1968). "Michal Escapa - Hi whose mistake?".
17. "Medallists-Tokyo 1964 Paralympic Games-Archery". International Paralympic Committee.
18. "Medallists-Tokyo 1964 Paralympic Games-Wheelchair Fencing". International Paralympic Committee.
19. "Medallists-Tokyo 1964 Paralympic Games-Athletics". International Paralympic Committee.
20. (2008). "Medal Standings - Tokyo 1964 Paralympic Games". [[International Paralympic Committee]].
21. "Participation Numbers in 1964 Paralympic Games". International Paralympic Committee.
22. [http://www.iisg.nl/collections/anti-apartheid/history/jaren70-5.php "'The Netherlands against Apartheid' - 1970s"], International Institute of Social History
23. [http://www.paralympic.org/Sport/Results/search.html?npc=RSA&gender=all&medal=all&sport=all&games=all South Africa at the Paralympics], [[International Paralympic Committee]]
24. (2021-08-28). "Japan Had Lofty Goals for the 1964 Paralympics".
25. Hamilton, Iona. (2021-08-24). "From the archive: the 1964 Tokyo Paralympics". The Guardian.