Max Baldwin

Max Baldwin (born 1927) is an Australian canoeist who competed in the 1950s. He finished ninth in the K-1 10000 m event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.

Baldwin lost the use of his left leg due to polio at age one,[1] and walks with crutches. Baldwin's first sport was gymnastics; despite his leg impairment, he won a NSW state championship title.[1][2] After Baldwin started canoeing, he won several Australian titles.[3] He was the first Australian athlete with a disability to compete in the Olympic Games.[2] Baldwin was made a life member of Gymnastics NSW in 1990[4] and awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2014, for services to sport.[2]

References
  1. Les Ryan. "Where There Is a Will There's a Way" (PDF). Network News. Polio NSW. p. 9.
  2. "Queen's Birthday Honours include one legged Olympian". Daily Telegraph.
  3. "Polio Victim Favorite". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 April 1953.
  4. "Gymnastics NSW - Our Life Members". Archived from the original on 28 February 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2015.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.