List of polio survivors
Sports

List of polio survivors

Section Title: Sports
Table Section Text: None

Name	Life	Comments

Tenley Albright	born 1935	The first American female figure skating world champion and Olympic champion. She caught polio, aged 11, and was isolated in the hospital for a while.

Paulo Autuori	born 1956	A Brazilian futsal player in his teens, Paulo Autuori contracted poliomyelitis and had to give up his career as a player.

Bob Blackman	1918–2000	After a bout of polio during his first year of college ended his football-playing career, Blackman became a college football head coach.

Ethelda Bleibtrey	1902–1978	A triple Olympic gold medallist in the freestyle swimming events. At age 16, she took up swimming to help recover from a bout of polio.

Bhagwat Chandrasekhar	born 1945	A cricketer who specialised in leg spin. At age five his right arm was withered by a bout of polio.

Walt Davis	born 1931	An Olympic gold medallist in the high jump, and later a basketball player in the NBA. He caught polio, aged nine, and could not walk for three years.

W. Harry Davis	1923–2006	Stricken with polio at age three, Davis was left crippled from the waist down until he was five. He recovered but his legs remained slightly different lengths.

David Dore	born 1940	Dore served as the head of the Canadian Figure Skating Association for 17 years. He was introduced to figure skating as a child while recovering from polio.

Ray Ewry	1873–1937	Track and field athlete Ray Ewry contracted polio as a child, and he used a wheelchair for a while. He devised his own exercises to strengthen his legs.

Paola Fantato	born 1959	Despite being confined to a wheelchair by polio as a child, Italian Archer Fantato has competed in both the Olympics and Paralympics, winning six medals in the latter.

Bill Gadsby	born 1926	A former ice hockey defenceman in the NHL, Gadsby contracted polio at age 24 while at a training camp. Fortunately, he was able to recover quickly and his hockey season was uninterrupted.

Bud Grant	born 1927	The long-time former American football head coach of the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League for eighteen seasons. He caught polio as a child, leaving one leg shortened.

Lis Hartel	born 1921	An Olympic dressage silver medallist. She caught polio, aged 23, while pregnant.

Larry Hinson	born 1944	A professional golfer, Hinston's left arm was affected by a bout with polio as a boy, but it never hindered his golf game.

John Konrads	born 1942	An Olympic freestyle swimmer in the 1950s and 1960s, Konrads caught a mild case of polio while swimming at the community pool.

Shelley Mann	born 1937	Mann caught polio, aged six, and took up swimming to aid her recovery. At the 1956 Summer Olympics she won gold and silver medals in butterfly events.

Jack Nicklaus	born 1940	A professional golfer who has won many major golf championships. He caught polio, aged 13.

Wilma Rudolph	1940–1994	Champion American Olympic sprinter. At age four, she contracted polio.

Joe Soares	born ~1959	Soares contracted polio as an infant in Portugal, resulting in his use of a wheelchair. At age four, he was sent, alone, from his island home in the Azores to Lisbon.

Vic Wertz	1925–1983	A Major League Baseball first baseman and outfielder. He caught non-paralytic polio during August 1955 and was in the hospital for 20 days.

Sentence(s)

Nicklaus overcame polio as a 13-year-old.

final_sentence: Nicklaus overcame polio as a 13-year-old.