Eva Marion "Eve" Rimmer née Davies (3 April 1937 – 23 November 1996) was a New Zealand Paralympic athlete. She was born in

Whanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and became one of New Zealand's greatest

paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural ...

athletes, winning 32 medals – including 22 gold medals – for athletics and swimming at international sporting events. Growing up in the small rural town of Edgecumbe, Eve was a talented young athlete. As Eve says in her biography "On natural ability alone, I held the school's long jump record for many years". This made up for her poor academic credentials. As soon as she was old enough she left school. In 1952 at age fifteen, Eve was left paralysed from the waist down when the vehicle she was in crashed on a dark wet night. This life changing experience did not prevent Eve Rimmer from becoming one of the best athletes in the world. She went on to be a multi-medal winner in

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...

pentathlon A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) ( gr, πένταθλον). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of t ...

, discus, swimming and

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

, In 1973 she received the British Empire Medal. The same spirit was shown in her personal life. She married Kelvin Stanley (Kel) Rimmer, a radio engineer, and despite being told she would probably never be able to conceive, gave birth to two healthy girls. Eve Rimmer has since been regarded as an inspiration to those with disabilities and able-bodied people. She was actively involved with the paraplegic organisations throughout New Zealand. She gave many

paraplegics Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural ...

throughout the world the ability to believe that they could achieve anything they wanted to.

Representations

Eve Rimmer was the first woman selected to represent New Zealand at the Paralympics. She was the only female named along with fourteen men to go to the 1968 Tel Aviv Games and the only one to bring home medals. She continued to represent New Zealand at the games in Heidelberg (1972), Toronto (1976) and Arnhem (1980), winning a total of 14 Paralympic medals, of which 8 were gold. Eve was also very successful in the

Commonwealth Paraplegic Games The Commonwealth Paraplegic Games were an international, multi-sport event involving athletes with a disability from the Commonwealth countries. The event was sometimes referred to as the Paraplegic Empire Games and British Commonwealth Paraplegi ...

and at domestic competitions.

Achievements

As well as winning many Paralympic and Commonwealth medals, Eve Rimmer has been honoured for her many achievements including being named the Bay of Plenty Sportsperson of the Year in 1992. She was the founder of the Disabilities Resource Centre in Whakatane and was the organiser of the 1990 Games for Disabled in Whakatane, an event which has grown into the Eve Rimmer Games held Easter weekend every two years. In 1990, Eve was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame due to her domination in paraplegic sport over the years. Rimmer was also runner up for the New Zealand Sportsman of the year title in 1972. In the

1973 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1973 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1973 to celebra ...

, Rimmer was awarded the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...

, for services to paraplegics. Eve was a very big influence on sports in Whakatane and the Council honoured her by naming a sports ground after her. The Eve Rimmer Park is used for rugby league, netball and bmx.Whakatane (2008).
Facilities locations
". Retrieved 20 March 2008.

References

* Disability Resource Centre Trust (2008).

. Retrieved 20 March 2008.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rimmer, Eve 1937 births 1996 deaths New Zealand female discus throwers New Zealand female javelin throwers New Zealand female shot putters New Zealand female freestyle swimmers New Zealand female archers Paralympic athletes for New Zealand Paralympic archers for New Zealand Paralympic swimmers for New Zealand Paralympic gold medalists for New Zealand Paralympic silver medalists for New Zealand Paralympic bronze medalists for New Zealand Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Paralympic medalists in archery Paralympic medalists in swimming Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Paralympics Archers at the 1980 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1972 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1980 Summer Paralympics Sportspeople from Whakatāne New Zealand recipients of the British Empire Medal Wheelchair discus throwers Wheelchair javelin throwers Wheelchair shot putters Paralympic discus throwers Paralympic javelin throwers Paralympic shot putters