Graham Henry Salmon, MBE (5 September 1954 – October 1999) was a blind

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

athlete. He set the world record for 100m by a blind man at the

1984 Summer Paralympics The 1984 International Games for the Disabled, commonly known as the 1984 Summer Paralympics, were the seventh Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes w ...

and won a bronze medal in the B1 400 metres. He competed at both the

Summer Paralympic Games The Summer Paralympics, also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebr ...

and the

Winter Paralympic Games The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete in snow and ice sports. The event includes athletes with mobility impairments, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. Th ...

Early life

Diagnosed with a tumour in his right eye at the age of three days, Salmon had to have an operation to remove it. When an identical tumour was discovered in his left eye some weeks later, he underwent radiotherapy to have it repaired. The eye didn't stand up to the treatment, and he was left completely blind. Salmon was educated at

Linden Lodge School Linden Lodge School for the Blind is a specialist sensory and physical college located in Wimbledon, South London, England. It educates visually impaired children aged between two and nineteen, including those who are multi-disabled visually i ...

where he gained O levels in History and English Language and Literature. He subsequently attended Worcester College. Apart from being left blind, Salmon was able to live a relatively normal life. He gained support from the

RNIB RNIB (formally, the Royal National Institute of Blind People and previously the Royal National Institute for the Blind) is a British charity, founded in 1868, that serves people living with visual impairments. It is regarded as a leader in th ...

and managed to get a full qualification in computer programming. Whilst his disability limited his career prospects, he was employed by Abbey National Building Society for a considerable number of years before his health failed.

Career

By 1982 Salmon had become a good athlete, and had met the playwright Mark Wheeller. He features as the central character in Wheeller's stage production ''Race to be Seen'' He was awarded the MBE in the

1989 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1989 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

Winter Paralympics

Salmon made his

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

début when he represented Britain at the

1976 Winter Paralympics The 1976 Winter Paralympic Games () were the first Winter Paralympics. They were held in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, from 21 to 28 February 1976. The disabilities included in this Paralympics were blindness and amputees. Sixteen countries took part ...

Örnsköldsvik Örnsköldsvik (; ), often shortened to just Ö-vik, is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Örnsköldsvik Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden, with 32,953 inhabitants in 2017. Its natural harbour and archipelago is in th ...

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. Entering in

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...

, he competed in the short distance 10 km (category A), finishing 23rd (out of 28) with a real time of 1:10:58, and the middle distance 15 km (category A), finishing 23rd (out of 25) with a real time of 1:46:19. He did not compete again at the Winter Games.

Summer Paralympics

Salmon's first participation in the Summer Paralympics came when he represented Britain at the

1980 Summer Paralympics The 1980 Summer Paralympics (), branded as the Olympics for the Disabled, were the sixth Summer Paralympic Games. They were held in Arnhem, Netherlands, from 21 to 30 June 1980. Background The Soviet Union, hosts of the 1980 Summer Olympics, wer ...

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

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. He competed in two events: * the 60m sprint (category A), where he finished 4th (out of 42) with a time of 7.86 - one-hundredth of a second behind the bronze medal time. * the high jump (category A), where he finished 8th (out of 20) with a jump of 1.25m. Salmon participated for the third and last time in the Paralympic Games when he represented Britain at the

Stoke Mandeville Stoke Mandeville is a village and civil parish in the Vale of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located three miles (5 km) from Aylesbury and 3.4 miles (5.5 km) from the market town of Wendover. Although a separate civil ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. He competed in just one event, the 400m (B1 category). He won the first heat comfortably with a time of 56.45, advancing to the semi-final, where he finished second with a time of 55.32. He ran with a time of 55.45 in the final, obtaining the bronze medal.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salmon, Graham 1954 births 1999 deaths English blind people Paralympic athletes for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Cross-country skiers at the 1976 Winter Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Paralympics People educated at Linden Lodge School Medalists at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Members of the Order of the British Empire English male cross-country skiers Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) British male high jumpers Visually impaired sprinters Visually impaired high jumpers Paralympic sprinters Paralympic high jumpers English male high jumpers English male sprinters British male sprinters 20th-century English sportsmen