# United States at the 1968 Summer Paralympics

The United States competed at the 1968 Summer Paralympics in Tel Aviv, Israel from November 4 to 13, 1968. The team finished first out of the twenty-eight competing nations in the medal table and won ninety-nine medals: thirty-three gold, twenty-seven silver and thirty-nine bronze. Eighty-two American athletes took part; fifty-three men and twenty-nine women.
Ed Owen won medals in six different sports; nine golds and a bronze in athletics, two golds in swimming and a silver in wheelchair basketball.

## Disability classifications

The Paralympics groups athletes' disabilities into one of five disability categories; amputation, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories; visual impairment, including blindness; Les autres, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example dwarfism or multiple sclerosis. Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent upon the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing.

## Medalists

The following United States athletes won medals at the Games;
| Medal | Name | Sport | Event |
| Gold | Arballo | Archery | Men's St. Nicholas round paraplegic |
| Gold | Classon Reno Levis O'Donnell | Archery | Men's Columbia round team open |
| Gold | Geissinger Kelderhouse Klemens | Archery | Men's Albion round team open |
| Gold | Branum Chess Gary Odorowski Roman | Athletics | Men's 4x40 m relay open |
| Gold | E. Cox C. Giesse Keyser Stratman | Athletics | Women's 4x40 m relay open |
| Gold | C. Geisse | Athletics | Women's 60 m wheelchair A |
| Gold | C. Giesse | Athletics | Women's slalom A |
| Gold | Rosalie Hixson | Athletics | Women's javelin throw B |
| Gold | Kirn | Athletics | Women's javelin throw A |
| Gold | Kirn | Athletics | Women's shot put A |
| Gold | Gary Odorowski | Athletics | Men's 100 m wheelchair C |
| Gold | Ed Owen | Athletics | Men's club throw special class |
| Gold | Ed Owen | Athletics | Men's discus throw special class |
| Gold | Ed Owen | Athletics | Men's pentathlon special class |
| Gold | Ed Owen | Athletics | Men's shot put special class |
| Gold | Roman | Athletics | Men's Novices 60 m wheelchair Dash C |
| Gold | H. Smith | Athletics | Men's club throw C |
| Gold | H. Smith | Athletics | Men's pentathlon incomplete |
| Gold | David Williamson | Athletics | Men's javelin throw B |
| Gold | Geissinger Kelderhouse | Dartchery | Mixed Pairs open |
| Gold | Ailes | Swimming | Women's 50 m breaststroke class 4 complete |
| Gold | Ailes | Swimming | Women's 50 m freestyle class 4 complete |
| Gold | Branum | Swimming | Men's 100 m freestyle open |
| Gold | Chrysler | Swimming | Men's 50 m backstroke class 3 complete |
| Gold | Chrysler | Swimming | Men's 50 m freestyle class 3 complete |
| Gold | Crase | Swimming | Men's 25 m breaststroke class 1 complete |
| Gold | Foust | Swimming | Men's 50 m freestyle class 4 complete |
| Gold | Gorman | Swimming | Women's 25 m breaststroke class 1 complete |
| Gold | Kaminski | Swimming | Women's 50 m backstroke class 4 complete |
| Gold | Moore | Swimming | Women's 25 m freestyle class 1 complete |
| Gold | Ed Owen | Swimming | Men's 100 m breaststroke open |
| Gold | Ed Owen | Swimming | Men's 50 m breaststroke special class |
| Gold | Dunn McNichol | Table tennis | Men's doubles A1 |
| Silver | Reno Levis | Archery | Men's Columbia round open |
| Silver | Soulek | Archery | Women's Columbia round open |
| Silver | Webb | Archery | Women's Albion round open |
| Silver | Branum | Athletics | Men's 100 m wheelchair C |
| Silver | Branum | Athletics | Men's pentathlon special class |
| Silver | Cameron | Athletics | Men's javelin throw special class |
| Silver | Demorest | Athletics | Men's discus throw special class |
| Silver | Gianino | Athletics | Men's slalom cervical class |
| Silver | Gurman | Athletics | Women's slalom cervical class |
| Silver | Keyser | Athletics | Women's 60 m wheelchair C |
| Silver | Kirn | Athletics | Women's 60 m wheelchair A |
| Silver | H. Smith | Athletics | Men's discus throw C |
| Silver | David Williamson | Athletics | Men's 100 m wheelchair B |
| Silver | David Williamson | Athletics | Men's club throw B |
| Silver | Rosalie Hixson Marilyn Warren Woods | Lawn bowls | Women's Pairs |
| Silver | Soulek | Lawn bowls | Women's singles |
| Silver | Branum | Swimming | Men's 50 m backstroke special class |
| Silver | Cornett | Swimming | Women's 25 m freestyle class 2 complete |
| Silver | Crase | Swimming | Men's 25 m freestyle class 1 complete |
| Silver | Gorman | Swimming | Women's 25 m backstroke class 1 complete |
| Silver | Gorman | Swimming | Women's 25 m freestyle class 1 complete |
| Silver | Moore | Swimming | Women's 25 m breaststroke class 1 complete |
| Silver | Moore | Swimming | Women's 25 m freestyle class 2 incomplete |
| Silver | Pollock | Swimming | Men's 50 m freestyle class 4 incomplete |
| Silver | Soulek | Swimming | Women's 25 m backstroke class 2 complete |
| Silver | Vincent | Swimming | Men's 25 m backstroke class 2 complete |
| Silver | | Wheelchair basketball | Men |
| Bronze | Cornett | Archery | Women's Columbia round open |
| Bronze | Geissinger Kelderhouse Klemens | Archery | Men's FITA round team open |
| Bronze | Klemens | Archery | Men's Albion round open |
| Bronze | Moore | Archery | Women's St. Nicholas round paraplegic |
| Bronze | Webb | Archery | Women's FITA round open |
| Bronze | Arballo | Athletics | Men's discus throw C |
| Bronze | Bindley | Athletics | Women's discus throw B |
| Bronze | Cameron | Athletics | Men's club throw special class |
| Bronze | Chrysler | Athletics | Men's shot put C |
| Bronze | Cornett | Athletics | Women's 60 m wheelchair A |
| Bronze | Cornett | Athletics | Women's pentathlon complete |
| Bronze | Cornett | Athletics | Women's slalom A |
| Bronze | Dunn | Athletics | Men's slalom cervical class |
| Bronze | Feltes | Athletics | Men's Novices 60 m wheelchair Dash C |
| Bronze | Rosalie Hixson | Athletics | Women's Precision javelin throw open |
| Bronze | Rosalie Hixson | Athletics | Women's shot put B |
| Bronze | Kirn | Athletics | Women's club throw A |
| Bronze | Kirn | Athletics | Women's discus throw A |
| Bronze | Reno Levis | Athletics | Men's javelin throw C |
| Bronze | Reno Levis | Athletics | Men's Precision javelin throw open |
| Bronze | Ed Owen | Athletics | Men's javelin throw special class |
| Bronze | Rosalie Hixson | Lawn bowls | Women's singles |
| Bronze | Lionetti | Lawn bowls | Men's singles |
| Bronze | C. Sandglass Vincent | Lawn bowls | Men's Pairs |
| Bronze | | Swimming | Men's 3x50 m medley relay open |
| Bronze | Branum | Swimming | Men's 3x25 m individual medley open |
| Bronze | Cornett | Swimming | Women's 25 m breaststroke class 2 complete |
| Bronze | Dunn | Swimming | Men's 25 m backstroke class 1 complete |
| Bronze | Fiorello | Swimming | Men's 50 m backstroke class 3 incomplete |
| Bronze | Stratman | Swimming | Women's 50 m backstroke class 5 (cauda equina) |
| Bronze | Vincent | Swimming | Men's 25 m breaststroke class 2 complete |
| Bronze | Vincent | Swimming | Men's 25 m freestyle class 2 complete |
| Bronze | Crase Donaldson | Table tennis | Men's doubles A1 |
| Bronze | Gorman Moore | Table tennis | Women's doubles A2 |
| Bronze | McNichol | Table tennis | Men's singles A1 |
| Bronze | Moore | Table tennis | Women's singles A1 |
| Bronze | Jensen | Weightlifting | Men's Middleweight |
| Bronze | Rossini | Weightlifting | Men's Heavyweight |
| Bronze | | Wheelchair basketball | Women |

## Dartchery

The only dartchery event at the Games was the mixed pairs event which took a knockout format. The United States was represented by Geissinger and Kelderhouse; the pair beat athletes from Jamaica, Italy and Australia to set up a semi-final meeting with Tanaka and Matsumoto of Japan. The Americans won the match and went on to defeat a second Australian pair in the final round to win the gold medal.

## Wheelchair basketball

America entered teams in both the men's and women's wheelchair basketball events and won medals in each. The women's event took the form of a single pool stage with medals awarded to the top three teams. The USA team won two matches and lost two matches, scoring 31 points and conceding 30, to finish in third place and take the bronze medal. The men's event featured a pool stage followed by a knockout competition. The USA men beat Great Britain and the Switzerland and Germany to advance to the quarterfinals. They then beat Argentina and Great Britain again to reach the gold medal match. Facing the hosts Israel, USA lost 47–37 and had to settle for the silver medals.