Athlete Stories: Rosemary Harvey
Perth 1962: Commonwealth Paraplegic Games
The first Commonwealth Paraplegic Games (for athletes paralysed in the lower limbs) was held at Claremont Showgrounds from 11th to 17th November, 1962. Ten nations were represented in wheelchair sports and competed in archery, basketball, table tennis, javelin, fencing, shot putting, snooker, swimming and weightlifting. The famous Dr Ludwig Guttman, founder of the Stoke Mandeville Hospital games, was heavily involved in arrangements for teams from England, Scotland and Wales.
The Scottish Paraplegic Association (later to become Spinal Injuries Scotland) was formed to enable Scotland to accept the invitation to compete in the Games. Margaret Taylor and Rosemary Harvey were the only two female athletes in a Scotland team of fifteen.
Scotland’s most successful athlete at the Games was Rosemary Harvey. Harvey won three silver medals in the Archery Windsor Round, Javelin class B and Precision Javelin, and a bronze in Shot Put. In most cases Harvey lost out to the most successful athlete of the games Lynne Gilchrist from Rhodesia who won eight gold medals across five different sports.
Rosemary Harvey went on to represent Great Britain at the second ever Paralympic Games in Tokyo 1964 winning bronze in the Women’s Club Throw class B. Her achievements in the early-1960s were remarkable considering the discrimination people with a disability faced at the time. There was a lack of understanding about their needs, and the infrastructure to support them simply did not exist.
The photographs of the 1962 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games used on this page were sourced from the collections of the State Library of Western Australia and reproduced with the permission of the Library Board of Western Australia.
