Australia competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Games in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012. The London Games were the biggest Games with 164 nations participating, 19 more than in the 2008 Beijing Paralympic. Australia has participated at every Summer Paralympic Games and hosted the 2000 Sydney Games. As such, the 2000 Sydney Games, regarded as one of the more successful Games, became a point-of-reference and an inspiration in the development of the 2012 London Games.
Australia finished 5th in the final medal count with 85 medals: 32 gold medals, 23 silver medals and 30 bronze medals.
Context
The 2012 London Paralympic Games were officially opened on Wednesday 29 August by Queen Elizabeth II at The Olympic Stadium in London. The Games had a record number of participating athletes at 4327, made up of 2736 men and 1501 women. London hosted 503 medal-winning events in 20 different sports. The Paralympians competed under six different impairment groups: amputees, blind and visually impaired, cerebral palsied, intellectually disabled, Les Autres and spinal cord injuries. These athletes set 251 new world records and 314 Paralympic Games records.
During the Games, 2.7 million tickets were sold with most events and sessions selling out. Media coverage of the Paralympic Games was high. The Games were shown in more countries than previous Games, attracting the biggest international audience yet.
The Australian team
The Australian Paralympic Team launch was held at Parliament House, Canberra on 25 June 2012. Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott farewelled the team. Julia Gillard told the athletes that they were "the fastest, the strongest, the best". Tony Abbott said "you are best of the best. In fact you are better than that because each one of you has mastered a significant disability to be in this team". Gillard stated that the Australian Government has invested A$13 million in team funding during the last year. The Australian Paralympic Committee organised a Staging Camp in Cardiff, Wales from 1 to 28 August 2012 to allow the Australian team to prepare for the Games.
The 2012 Australian Paralympic team had 161 athletes, 90 men and 71 women, competing in 13 sports. About half the team attended their first Games. Shooter Libby Kosmala, at the age of 70, was Australia's oldest competitor. Swimmer Maddison Elliott, at the age of thirteen, was the youngest.
Jason Hellwig, the Australian Paralympic Committee's chief executive, was the Chef de Mission. While Michael Hartung and Kate McLoughlin were the Deputy Chefs de Mission.
On 21 August 2012, Greg Smith, a wheelchair rugby player and former track and field athlete, was announced as the Australian flag bearer for the London 2012 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony. The announcement was made at a special ceremony for the Australian Paralympic Team in front of Cardiff Castle in Wales.
The Australian Paralympic Committee worked to classify each Australian Paralympian's individual disability well before the London Games. This was to ensure that each Paralympian qualified for their event and to "minimise any effect on [each Paralympian’s] Games preparation”. As such, the number of classifiers in the Australian Paralympic Committee, with the capacity to classify an athlete's impairment group, increased to 176 from 166 during 2011–2012.
2012 Paralympians of the Year Awards
Australian Paralympian of the Year: Jacqueline Freney
APC President's Medal for Excellence in Sportsmanship: Libby Kosmala (shooting)/ Kieran Modra (cycling) Male Athlete of the Year: Evan O’Hanlon (athletics) Female Athlete of the Year: Jacqueline Freney (swimming) Junior Athlete of the Year: Maddison Elliott (swimming)/ Rheed McCracken (athletics) Team of the Year: The Steelers (wheelchair rugby)/ SKUD18 crew (sailing) Coach of the Year: Peter Day (cycling) Paralympic Achievement Award: Matthew Cowdrey (swimming)
Notable Australian performances
Jacqueline Freney
A cerebral palsy swimmer and the highest achieving individual athlete of the Games, winning eight gold medals. This is the most gold medals won by an Australian athlete at a single Paralympic Games.
- Awards: Australian Paralympian of the Year 2012 and Australian Female Athlete of the Year.
- The most successful individual medallist of any nation in London.
- Ranked equal first on total medals won at a single Paralympic Games with fellow Australian swimmer Matthew Cowdrey and USA swimmer Jessica Long, with eight medals in total.