1.
GV Flags
0.05

2.
Spectators-some in wheelchairs.
0.08

3.
SV Ugandan javalin thrower (3 shots)
0.21

4.
GV competitors
0.24

5.
SV & CV Bikila (2 shots)
0.32

6.
CV Bikila firing arrows
0.42

7.
SV Other competitors and spectators
0.48

8.
SV stages at archery target.
0.55

9.
CV Bikila watching.
1.04



Initials


SPORT: ARCHERY

Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: One of the greatest athletes of all time, Abebe Bikila, who was crippled in an accident some eighteen months ago, today made his first appearance at the world-famous Paraplegic Games which are designed for the crippled.

Abebe Bikila took part in the archery contest against other competitors from many other countries, all of whom are suffering from disabilities which keep them in wheelchairs.

But for the great Sudanese marathon champion, this appearance marks another step in his fight back to health. Early in 1969, he suffered spinal injuries in a car accident in Sudan. At the time, he lay for ten hours on a roadway with severe paralysis. Within two weeks, he was flown to the renowned hospital for spinal injuries at Stoke Mandeville in England.

For more than six months he lay on his back in the hospital while doctors attempted to repair his damaged nervous system. He returned to Sudan at the end of 1969, but is back again to take part in the Stoke Mandeville games.