Eric Cyril Russell, MBE (born 7 January 1944) is an Australian Paralympic athlete, coach, and administrator.

Personal

Russell was born on 7 January 1944 in the Queensland city of Maryborough. After leaving school, he served an apprenticeship as a

boilermaker A boilermaker is a Tradesman, tradesperson who Metal fabrication, fabricates steels, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bure ...

. He played professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

, Papua New Guinea, and while there, he sustained a spinal cord injury in a car crash. Russell spent 16 days in hospital in Papua New Guinea. He was then flown to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, where he underwent rehabilitation for three months, and was inspired to take up sport by athletes training at the spinal injury unit. He has been married to Paralympic athlete and powerlifter Julie Russell since 1979. The pair met in 1977 for the first time when Eric came to Adelaide for the first National Basketball Titles. Eric and Julie were then introduced officially in 1978 at the Regional Games in

Broken Hill Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

. He has been a member of

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and p ...

since 1985, first joining the Rotary Club of

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, South Australia, and then moving to Adelaide Parks, where he later served as president in 1989. He was the 2011–12 District Governor of District 9500, which covers parts of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

(including

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

) and

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

(including Adelaide).

Competitive career

Xx0876 - Eric Russell with Ludwig Guttmann at 1976 Paralympics - 3b - Scan

Russell's career began in 1972 when he participated in a shot put trial for the National Games that were to be competed in Sydney later that year. He was selected for the Games where he finished with two bronze and one silver medal. He represented Australia at the

1974 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games The fourth Commonwealth Paraplegic Games were held in Dunedin, New Zealand from 13 to 19 January 1974. The Games were opened by Sir Denis Blundell, Governor-General of New Zealand. Participating nations The competing countries and competitor ...

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

, New Zealand. At the 1976 Toronto Games, he won three gold medals in the Men's Discus 3, Men's Pentathlon 3 and Men's Shot Put 3 events and a silver medal in the Men's Javelin 3 event; he was also part of the

Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team The Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team is the men's wheelchair basketball side that represents Australia in international competitions. The team is known as the Rollers. Australia took the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Paralymp ...

at the games. Despite setting a world record in the discus, he rejected the gold medal for that event because of politics being injected into the Games; several national teams had boycotted the competition due to the presence of the South African Paralympic team during the

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

era, at a time when many sports teams from that country were banned from international competition. Russell said: "We have enough of a common bond in our disabilities without governments bringing politics into it". Following his protest, Russell was ordered to attend a meeting with

Kevin Betts Kevin Francis Betts, Order of Australia, OAM (13 August 1926 – 4 May 1990) was a sports administrator known for his work in the Paralympic Games, Paralympic movement in Australia and his founding work related to wheelchair sports in New South Wa ...

and

Ludwig Guttmann Sir Ludwig Guttmann (3 July 1899 – 18 March 1980) was a German-British neurologist who established the Stoke Mandeville Games, the sporting event for people with disabilities (PWD) that evolved in England into the Paralympic Games. A Jewish ...

where he left the meeting in frustration as a result of his issue with the politics associated with the Games. A press conference was then held the next morning where Russell was awarded a medal for the excellence of his protest which he later returned to the lawn bowler from whom it was taken. At the 1980 Arnhem Games, he won a gold medal in the Men's Shot Put 3 event and two bronze medals in the Men's Discus 3 and Men's Pentathlon 3 events. At the 1992 Barcelona Games, he came seventh in the Men's Javelin THW6 event. Going into the 1992 Games, he had won 26 gold medals at 16 events.

Sport administration

Russell has served in several positions in disabled athletics including as a coach, sport administrator, and sport event director. He was the Chairman of Athletics at the

International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation World Abilitysport (formerly the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation or IWAS) is an international sports organisation that governs sports for athletes with Physical disability, physical impairments. It is a registered charity ...

from 1978 to 1988. After realising that he had achieved all of his initial goals, Russell resigned from his position as Chairman of Athletics in 1988. He also served as an international Paralympic classifier in athletics. Russell was the inaugural Representative for the South-Pacific Region on the International Paralympic Committee. He resigned from this role in 1993 because of the politics within the sport.

Recognition

Russell became a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1981 for service to "handicapped sport". In that year, he received an

Advance Australia Award The Advance Australia Foundation (AAF) was established in 1980. The AAF recognised "individuals or groups who have made outstanding contributions to the growth and enhancement of Australia, the Australian people and the Australian way of life". I ...

. In 2007, he was made a life member of the Wheelchair Sports Association of South Australia. The Eric Russell Male Athlete of the Meet Award, issued by the

Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association The Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association was the peak body for sport, recreation and fitness for people with a physical disability or vision impairment in the Australian state of Queensland. In January 2024, all the staff, assets and liabi ...

, is named in Russell's honour; he was the first coordinator and later a state administrator of the organisation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Eric 1944 births Living people Paralympic athletes for Australia Paralympic wheelchair basketball players for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1980 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Wheelchair-category Paralympic competitors Members of the Order of the British Empire Sportsmen from Queensland Sportspeople from Maryborough, Queensland Athletes from Queensland Australian male discus throwers Australian male javelin throwers Australian male shot putters Australian pentathletes Paralympic discus throwers Paralympic javelin throwers Paralympic shot putters Wheelchair discus throwers Wheelchair javelin throwers Wheelchair shot putters 20th-century Australian sportsmen