Carried by soldiers, no score-keepers at 1960 Paralympics

24 August 2012 Last updated at 08:00 ET


By Peter White No Triumph, No Tragedy presenter, Radio 4
Margaret Maughan competing for gold in Rome's 1960 Paralympics

The first Paralympic Games in Rome in 1960 was a disorganised and undignified affair, symptomatic of attitudes in the 1950s and 60s. Soldiers carried competitors to and from the athletes' village, and score-keeping was haphazard.
When archer Margaret Maughan won Britain's first-ever gold medal in the Paralympics, there was no crowd, no podium and almost no Maughan.
She had to be dragged off the coach going back to the rudimentary Olympic village to be presented with her prize.

Chizony