78-469: Alix Louise Sauvage , OAM (born 18 September 1973) is an Australian paralympic wheelchair racer and leading coach. Sauvage is often regarded as the most renowned disabled sportswoman in Australia. She won nine gold and four silver medals at four Paralympic Games and eleven gold and two silver medals at three IPC Athletics World Championships . She has won four Boston Marathons , and held world records in
156-549: A TAFE course in office and secretarial studies. She underwent 20 operations before the age of 10. Her parents encouraged her to participate in sport from a very young age. She started swimming when she was three years old, with her parents enrolling her in swimming classes to help her build upper body strength. Sauvage started to compete in wheelchair sport at the age of eight. Before that time, she had attempted to play school sport with her classmates but her disability made it difficult. She took up competitive wheelchair racing when she
234-557: A Unified Team (consisting of Armenia , Azerbaijan , Belarus , Kyrgyzstan , Moldova , Russia and Ukraine ) , all of whom would compete independently by the 1996 Games. Twenty-one countries did not send a delegation to Barcelona, but sent one to Madrid; they were: Aruba , Bolivia , Côte d'Ivoire , Curaçao , El Salvador , Fiji , Ghana , Guatemala , Honduras , Jordan , Lebanon , Malta , Nicaragua , Paraguay , Philippines , Romania , Saudi Arabia , Sierra Leone , Sri Lanka , Suriname and Zimbabwe . The official mascot
312-696: A demonstration sport at the 1988 Summer Paralympics , was contested as an official medal sport for the first time. This was the first time that lawn bowls and snooker were dropped from the Summer Paralympic Games program. In total 11 venues were used at the 1992 Summer Olympics and one new one was used at the Games in Barcelona. In the north of the city, the Horta-Guinardó District, hosted three sports: A total of 1710 medals were awarded during
390-517: A Virgin Blue aircraft. Previously, both athletes had tried to lobby Qantas to lift a limit of only two electric wheelchairs on domestic flights flying on Boeing 737s . The pair were ineffective because the change would have required a change in law, not in airline policy. Sauvage and Nunnar did receive an invitation to help train Qantas staff and help make staff more aware of the needs of disabled people. Sport
468-548: A challenge to take the prime ministership in September 2015. Two months after coming into office, the new republican prime minister announced that the Queen had approved his request to amend the Order's letters patent and cease awards at this level. Existing titles would not be affected. The move was attacked by monarchists and praised by republicans. The amendments to the constitution of
546-465: A disability and it was warm and fuzzy. It wasn't until I made it to where everyone else was, in the sports pages, where any elite athlete deserves to be, that I thought, 'OK they're taking me seriously now, this is good'. Sauvage was born in 1973 in Perth , Western Australia, the daughter of Rita (née Rigden) and Maurice Sauvage. Her mother was a Ten Pound Pom from Leicestershire , England, while her father
624-454: A innovative and risky way, Barcelona was presenting an adapted version of its Olympic project in which for the first time in history, the Olympic and Paralympic Games would be managed, planned and executed by the same people without any type of differentiation. Furthermore, unlike Seoul, Paralympic athletes would have the same conditions and opportunities as their Olympic counterparts. This involved
702-569: A member of the British Empire, members of the colonies and later federated nation of Australia were able to have achievement awarded under the British Imperial Honours system . However, existing criticism of the aristocratic nature of the awards grew following a cash-for-honours corruption scandal in the UK in 1922. Moves to abolish the awards federally and the states were unsuccessful; however
780-573: A representation of the states (with whom Whitlam's government was constantly in dispute) through the state badges within the Commonwealth Coat of Arms . The original three-level structure of the Order of Australia was modelled closely upon the Order of Canada , though the Order of Australia has been awarded rather more liberally, especially in regard to honorary awards to non-citizens. As of July 2024 only 30 non-Canadians have been appointed to
858-746: A reunified country for the first time in the Summer Paralympics after the Fall of the Berlin Wall . Latvia and Lithuania competed as independent countries for the first time due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union ( Estonia having competed independently at the 1992 Winter Paralympics as well), while Croatia and Slovenia did the same due to the dissolution of Yugoslavia . The remainder of Yugoslavia competed as Independent Paralympic Participants due to sanctions. Some former Soviet republics competed as
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#1733085343654936-544: A single flower of mimosa . At the centre is a ring, representing the sea, with the word Australia below two branches of mimosa. The whole disc is topped by the Crown of St Edward . The AC badge is decorated with citrines , blue enamelled ring, and enamelled crown. The AO badge is similar, without the citrines. For the AM badge, only the crown is enamelled, and the OAM badge is plain. The AK/AD badge
1014-481: A week when she was actively competing. Her training was very focused, and she attempted to make it fun to help her maintain interest. She often trained six days a week. Her training included boxing, swimming and racing between 25 and 35 km in a single session. Frank Ponta was one of Sauvage's first coaches. She was subsequently coached by Jenni Banks , who oversaw much of Sauvage's development as an elite wheelchair athlete, from her first international success at
1092-434: Is a registered charity, whose stated purpose is "[t]o celebrate and promote outstanding Australian citizenship". It also supports the "community and social activities" of members and promotes and encourages the nomination of other Australians to the Order. The Order also runs a foundation that provides scholarships to tertiary students that show potential as future leaders and are involved in community activities. Branches of
1170-630: Is also named in her honour. Sauvage and New South Wales Treasurer Michael Egan christened the park on 6 March 2003. She was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2009, Sauvage was awarded Legend status in the New South Wales Hall of Champions . In 2011, she was one of the first people to be inducted into the Australian Paralympian Hall of Fame , along with Frank Ponta and George Bedbrook . In 2012, she
1248-757: Is an entity represented by a National Paralympic Committee). Host country (Spain) 103 delegations participated at the 1992 Summer Paralympics. South Africa returned to the Paralympics for the first time since being declared "undesirable" due to its policy of apartheid in 1980. Countries who made their first appearances in the Barcelona Games were Algeria , Burkina Faso , Chile , Chinese Taipei , Costa Rica , Cuba , Dominican Republic , Iraq , Myanmar , Namibia , Nigeria , Pakistan , Panama , Seychelles , Tanzania , Turkey , United Arab Emirates , Uruguay and Yemen . Germany competed as
1326-473: Is issued with each badge of the order at the time of investiture; AK/AD and AC lapel pins feature a citrine central jewel, AO and AM lapel pins have a blue enamelled centre and OAM lapel pins are plain. The different levels of the order are awarded according to the recipients' levels of achievement: Since 1976 any Australian citizen may nominate any person for an Order of Australia award. People who are not Australian citizens may be awarded honorary membership of
1404-553: Is likely to feel a bit second-rate, and the public is likely to agree. We hate to be the first to say it, but there is no doubt that the Order of Australia (OA) will be labelled as the Ocker Award. Satire and mockery also greeted the awards, being dubbed "Gough’s Gongs" and "the Order of the Wombat". The newly elected Liberal Fraser government decided to once again make recommendations for imperial awards, whilst maintaining and expanding
1482-666: Is my life. I have made a career out of it – I am a professional athlete. Living in Australia we are all very sport minded and I cannot see a life without it. Sauvage was the Australian Paralympian of the Year in 1994, 1996, 1997 and 1998. She was also the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Athlete of the year in 1997 and in 2001 inducted into the AIS 'Best of the Best '. In 1998, she won
1560-482: Is similar to that of the AC badge, but with the difference that it contains at the centre an enamelled disc bearing an image of the coat of arms of Australia . The colours of royal blue and gold are taken from the livery colours of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms , the then national colours . The star for knights and dames is a convex golden disc decorated with citrines, with a blue royally crowned inner disc bearing an image of
1638-433: The 2002 Commonwealth Games , where the 800 metre event was a full medal event at the games for the first time. It was only the second time that Sauvage had lost to Petitclerc. I think I was just so pumped up from the 5000 m, and warm enough, and hearing the anthem for Dave Evans [who had just won the men's 1500 m event] – that was fantastic to hear that in the background. Sauvage trained 10 to 14 hours
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#17330853436541716-478: The Australian Labor Party remained opposed and generally refused to recommend awards whilst in office, with this a part of the party's platform since 1918. This was confirmed in a resolution adopted unanimously by the party conference in 1921. However, the non-Labor parties remained supportive, with the long running Menzies government making significant use of the imperial system. The Order of Australia
1794-760: The Australian Sports Medal in 2000. At the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, Sauvage lit the cauldron during the opening ceremonies for the games. In 2004, Sauvage carried the Australian flag into the stadium at the 2004 Summer Paralympics . In 2001, the State Transit Authority named a SuperCat ferry after Sauvage. The Louise Sauvage Pathway , a 6.3-kilometre (3.9 mi) wheelchair-accessible bicycle and walking path within Sydney Olympic Park,
1872-461: The Council for the Order of Australia . Members of the government are not involved in the recommendation of appointments, other than for military and honorary awards. The King of Australia is the sovereign head of the order, and the governor-general is the principal companion and chancellor of the order. The governor-general's official secretary , Paul Singer (appointed August 2018), is secretary of
1950-698: The New South Wales Institute of Sport and coaches Madison de Rozario . During her retirement from being an athlete, Sauvage created a consulting company that she works for. In 2010, Sauvage was a speaker at the IPC Women in Sport Summit. She spoke alongside Amy Winters and Jayme Paris . In February 2011, Sauvage participated in the Charter Hall Malabar Magic Ocean Swim. The event was created to raise funds for Rainbow Club. It
2028-569: The 100 m setting a new world record. She also won the 200 m race but was disqualified for moving out of her lane. At the Stoke Mandeville Games in England the same year, Sauvage took gold in the 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, and two relays. Before the start of the 1992 Summer Paralympics , Sauvage held Australian records for the 100 m, 200 m, 800 m, 1500 m and marathon in women's wheelchair racing events. She
2106-595: The 1500 m and 5000 m events during these Games. Sauvage won the 5000 m and the 400 m golds only an hour apart. At her final Paralympics in Sydney, 2000 , she won two gold medals - 1500 m and 5000 m T54 events and silver medal in 800 m T54. Sauvage competed at three IPC Athletics World Championships . At the 1994 Championships in Berlin, Germany, she won four gold medals in T53 events - 800 m, 1500 m, 5000 m and Marathon. At
2184-439: The 1500 m, 5000 m and 4x100 m and 4x400 m relays. She was Australian Female Athlete of the Year in 1999, and International Female Wheelchair Athlete of the Year in 1999 and 2000. In 2002, her autobiography Louise Sauvage: My Story was published. When I first started off I was in the human interest pages of the paper – the fact that I did a sport and the article was about my sport didn't matter – I had
2262-543: The 1992 Paralympic Games for Persons with mental handicap were held immediately after the regular Paralympics in the Spanish capital, Madrid . Barcelona is the second-largest city in Spain and the capital of the autonomous community of Catalonia , and the hometown of then- IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch and the famous European club, FC Barcelona that from the beginning of the candidacy provided support and financially helped
2340-735: The 1992 Paralympics because of funding issues for the Australian Paralympic Federation . The Federation made an emergency appeal for funding from the public in order to cover the cost of transporting the Australian team to Barcelona. The Federation found funding through a variety of small donations that allowed Sauvage and other Australian athletes to compete. At the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games , she won four gold medals - 400 m (T53), 800 m (T53), 1500 m (T52-53) and 1500 m (T52-53) and finished fourth in Marathon (T52-53). She won these while having an injured wrist. She set world records in
2418-401: The 1992 games: 555 gold, 557 silver, and 594 bronze. The United States topped the medal count with more gold medals, more silver medals, and more medals overall than any other nation. Germany took the most bronze medals, with 59. The Madrid medals are counted too and added in the table In the table below, the ranking sorts by the number of gold medals earned by a nation (in this context a nation
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2496-497: The 1998 Championships in Birmingham, England, she won six gold medals in 800 m, 1500 m, 5000 m, Marathon - T55 events, 4 × 100 m and 4 × 400 m (T54-55). At her final Championships in 2002 at Lille, France, she won gold medal in 800 m T54 and silver medals in 1500 m and 5000 m T54. 1993 was Sauvage's first year on the international wheelchair racing circuit, competing in the US and Europe. It
2574-474: The 435 people who have received the nation's top Order of Australia honours since they were first awarded in 1975, shows they disproportionately attended a handful of elite Victorian secondary schools. Scotch College alumni received the highest number of awards, with 19 former students receiving Australia's [then] highest honour". On 26 January 1980 the Order of Australia Association was created as an incorporated body with membership open to award recipients. It
2652-778: The Australian of the Year Award in the ABIGGRIUOP National Sports Award category. In 2000, Sauvage was named the Female Athlete of the Year in the Sport Australia Awards . In 2000, she was named the "World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability" at the first Laureus Sports Awards held in Monte Carlo . In 1999 and 2000, she was named the International Female Athlete of the Year. She was awarded
2730-512: The IOC voting by secret ballot, Barcelona won a majority of 47 votes. Samaranch abstained from voting. In the same IOC meeting, Albertville, France, won the right to host the 1992 Winter Games . Paris and Brisbane would eventually be selected to host the 2024 and 2032 Summer Paralympics respectively. Barcelona had previously bid for the 1936 Summer Olympics that were ultimately held in Berlin . During
2808-521: The Olympic bid process, Barcelona demonstrated itself to be open and motivated to host the Paralympic Games and, unlike previous host cities, the bidding Committee managed to establish good relations with the then International Coordination Committee (ICC). Shortly after the selection of the Olympic host city in September 1986, negotiations with the ICC began under the mediation of Juan Antonio Samaranch . In
2886-418: The Order of Australia and the award of 199 Honorary Medals of the Order of Australia. Notable honorary awards include: Since 1975, just over 30 per cent of recipients of an Order of Australia honour have been women. The number of nominations and awards for women is trending up, with the 2023 Australia Day Honours resulting in the highest percentage of awards for women to date (47.1 per cent, 47.9 per cent in
2964-578: The Order of Australia. This was done by with the addition of two additional award levels: Knight or Dame (AK or AD) above the level of Companion, and the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) below Members. The Civil Division was also renamed the General Division, so that awards could be given to those in the Defence Force for non-military achievement. These changes were made on 24 May 1976. The reaction to
3042-481: The Order of Canada, while 537 non-Australians have been appointed to the Order of Australia, with 46 to the Companion level. Public reaction to the new awards was mixed. Only the state Labor governments of Tasmania and South Australia agreed to submit recommendations for the new awards, with the remaining governments affirming their committent to the existing imperial honours system. Newspaper editorials similarly praised
3120-439: The Order were gazetted on 22 December 2015. Yvonne Kenny AM represented the Order at the 2023 Coronation . King Charles III , when he was Prince of Wales , was appointed a Knight of the Order of Australia (AK) on 14 March 1981. As he is not an Australian citizen, even though he was the heir to the Australian throne at the time, this would have required the award to be honorary. To overcome this issue, his appointment
3198-581: The Order would be determined by the Council of the Order of Australia. Awards of the Order of Australia are sometimes made to people who are not citizens of Australia to honour extraordinary achievements. These achievements, or the people themselves, are not necessarily associated with Australia, although they often are. On 1 July 2024, the Australian Honours website listed appointments for 46 Honorary Companions, 118 Honorary Officers, 174 Honorary Members of
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3276-441: The Queen to reinstate the level of knight or dame and the Queen co-signed letters patent to bring this into effect. The change was publicly announced on 25 March, and gazetted on 17 April 2014. Up to four knights or dames could be appointed each year, by the Queen of Australia on the advice of the prime minister after consultation with the chairman of the Order of Australia Council. Five awards of knight and dame were then made, to
3354-603: The World Games in Assen in 1990, to her best ever medal tally at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Atlanta in 1996. Andrew Dawes was her coach after the 1996 Paralympics. After her retirement from competition, she became involved in coaching young wheelchair athletes, establishing a foundation to help support children with disabilities in 2001. In 2004, Sauvage started coaching other wheelchair athletes. The first athlete that she coached
3432-424: The anthem with you, it's just unbelievable. There was no time to be emotional, I just couldn't stop smiling, it was just awesome. From the ages of 10 to 13, Sauvage represented Western Australia in the national swim championships. She was forced to retire from swimming when she turned 14, because of surgery. When Sauvage first started competing in wheelchair racing, the chairs all had four wheels and were similar to
3510-508: The association are in all the states and territories of Australia as well as the UK and the USA. Total inductees as of July 2024 . The order of wearing Australian and other approved honours is determined by the government. The award is parodied in the play Amigos , where the central character is determined to be awarded the AC, and uses persuasion, bribery and blackmail in his (ultimately successful) attempts to get himself nominated for
3588-498: The award to Prince Philip in a ReachTEL poll. The Australian Labor Party continued to oppose knighthoods and damehoods. Leader of the opposition Bill Shorten stated in March 2014 that the party would again discontinue the level if it were to win the next Australian federal election. The knighthood decision was a significant factor that caused Liberal party members to question Abbott's leadership, with Malcolm Turnbull succeeding in
3666-536: The award. During the 1996 season of the popular television programme Home and Away , the character Pippa Ross was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for her years of service as a foster carer. 1992 Summer Paralympics The 1992 Summer Paralympics ( Spanish : Juegos Paralímpicos de Verano de 1992 ; Catalan : Jocs Paralímpics d'estiu de 1992 ) were the ninth Paralympic Games to be held. They were held in Barcelona , Catalonia, Spain. In addition,
3744-411: The awards as an example of Australia's greater independence, whilst also noting that the awards would likely appear second-rate. The Australian stated that There is no longer a British Empire; everyone knows that. But somehow the phrase "imperial honours" still carries a ring of regal authenticity that somehow transcends nationalism. For the time being a recipient ... of the Order of Australia
3822-446: The chairs that they used off the track. The chairs did not have any form of steering. The front wheels were smaller than the back wheels, and when at high speed, they were prone to wobbling. By 1997, racing wheelchairs had basically finished undergoing massive changes to improve them. In 1990, Sauvage competed in her first international competition in Assen , Holland, where she won gold in
3900-519: The changes to the awards were similarly split along party lines. Following the 1983 federal election , Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke recommitted to the end of recommendations for imperial awards. No knighthoods were awarded during his first term in office and he advised the abolition of the knight/dame level after being re-elected in 1986. During the time the division was active from 1976 to 1983, twelve knights and two dames were created. On 19 March 2014, monarchist prime minister Tony Abbott advised
3978-463: The coat of arms of Australia. The ribbon of the order is royal blue with a central stripe of mimosa blossoms. Awards in the military division are edged with 1.5 mm golden bands. AKs, male ACs and AOs wear their badges on a necklet and male AMs and OAMs wear them on a ribbon on the left chest. Women usually wear their badges on a bow on the left shoulder, although they may wear the same insignia as males if so desired. A gold lapel pin for daily wear
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#17330853436544056-458: The exception of awards recommended by the soon to be independent government of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea ); however this did not affect the constitutional right of state governments to recommend imperial awards. According to the governor general's then-secretary Sir David Smith , Whitlam was furious when he first saw Devlin's design for the insignia of the order, due to the inclusion of
4134-417: The fact that the athletes would compete in the same venues that were already in planning with the maximum accessibility factors in force at the time, they would also have access to the same Olympic village and all the services and actions by the organizers. The games consisted of 560 events spread over fifteen sports. Powerlifting and weightlifting were considered to be a single sport. Wheelchair tennis ,
4212-487: The first turn. For this reason, athletes like Sauvage are required to wear helmets when racing. In 2000, Sauvage won the Olympic demonstration event and was expected to win the Paralympic gold. She was upset by Canadian Chantal Petitclerc . The Australian delegation appealed the result, claiming the race was not fair because another racer, Ireland's Patrice Dockery , was disqualified for leaving her lane too early. The appeal
4290-476: The general division). Advocacy groups such as Honour a Woman and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency have called for greater effort to be made to reach equal representation of men and women in the order. In December 2010, The Age reported a study of the educational backgrounds of all people who had received Knight/Dame and Companion level awards at that time. It reported: "An analysis of
4368-657: The governments of each respective state and territory, and three ex officio members (the chief of the Defence Force , the vice-president of the Federal Executive Council and a public servant responsible for honours policy). The Council chair as of August 2024 is Shelley Reys. The Council makes recommendations to the governor-general. Awards are announced on Australia Day and on the King's Birthday public holiday in June, on
4446-572: The governor-general to remove an individual from the order, who may cancel an award. Announcements of all awards, cancellations and resignations appear in the Commonwealth Gazette . Nomination forms are confidential and not covered by the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) . The reasoning behind a nomination being successful or unsuccessful—and even the attendees of the meetings where such nominations are discussed—remains confidential. As
4524-417: The occasion of a special announcement by the governor-general (usually honorary awards), and on the appointment of a new governor-general. The governor-general presents the order's insignia to new appointees. Appointments to the order may be made posthumously as long as a person was nominated for an award whilst they were still alive. Awardees may subsequently resign from the order, and the Council may advise
4602-649: The order at all levels. Nomination forms are submitted to the Director, Honours Secretariat, a position within the Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General of Australia , at Government House, Canberra , which are then forwarded to the Council for the Order of Australia . The council consists of 19 members: seven selected by the prime minister (described as "community representatives"), eight appointed by
4680-448: The order. The order is divided into a general and a military division. The five levels of appointment to the order in descending order of seniority are: Honorary awards at all levels may be made to non-citizens. These awards are made additional to the quotas. The order's insignia was designed by Stuart Devlin . The badge of the Order of Australia is a convex disc (gold for AKs, ADs and ACs, gilt for AOs, AMs and OAMs) representing
4758-453: The outgoing governor-general , Quentin Bryce ; her successor, Peter Cosgrove ; a recent chief of the Defence Force , Angus Houston ; a recent governor of New South Wales , Marie Bashir ; and Prince Philip . This last award was widely met with ridicule and dismay by many in the Australian media. The award was also heavily criticised in the community, with 72% disapproving and 12% in favour of
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#17330853436544836-421: The prestigious Oz Day 10K Wheelchair Road Race ten times – 1993–1999 and 2001–2003. From 1993 to 2001, Sauvage won every IAAF wheelchair demonstration event at IAAF World Athletics Championships . In that same period, she also won the demonstration events for wheelchair racing in the 800 metre race at the Olympic games. The 800 metre event does not require that athletes stay in their lanes after
4914-672: The prime minister alone, rather than by the Council of the Order of Australia, as is the case with all lower levels of the order. In accordance with the statutes of 2014, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh , was created a Knight of the Order by letters patent signed by the Queen on 7 January 2015, on Abbott's advice. Prince Philip's knighthood was announced as part of the Australia Day Honours on 26 January 2015 and his appointment attracted criticism of what Abbott described as his "captain's call". Abbott responded by announcing that future recommendations for appointments as Knights and Dames of
4992-465: The project. The city was also a host for the 1982 FIFA World Cup with two venues who were also used during the games. On 17 October 1986, Barcelona was selected to host the 1992 Summer Olympics over Amsterdam , Netherlands; Belgrade , Yugoslavia ; Birmingham , United Kingdom; Brisbane , Australia; and Paris , France, during the 91st IOC Session in Lausanne , Switzerland. With 85 out of 89 members of
5070-527: The time she was ten years old. As a preteen, Sauvage had scoliosis , and at 14, she had surgery to fix a curvature in her spine, using steel rods. The operation was only partially successful, and as an adult, she still has a curve of roughly 49 degrees. She has not had any subsequent surgery to fix the curve in her spine. Sauvage grew up in Joondanna, Western Australia , attending Tuart Hill Primary School and Hollywood Senior High School before leaving to complete
5148-513: Was Angie Ballard . Sauvage's coaching helped Ballard win gold 400 m and silver in the 100 m, 200 m, 800 m and 1500 m at the Summer Down Under Series in 2005. Sauvage has attended several international competitions as a coach. She was an athletics coach with the Australian team 2008 Beijing Games and 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships . She is currently Wheelchair Track & Road Elite Development Coach at
5226-447: Was 15. Sauvage also tried wheelchair basketball as a youngster. If I had to pick my greatest moment, it would be winning the demonstration event at the 2000 Games and coming back later that evening and having my medal presented to me by Juan Antonio Samaranch, who was head of the IOC. I was on the dais in the No.1 position, and the flag was being raised and the anthem was being played because you're No.1. You have got 110,000 people singing
5304-400: Was Petra, an armless girl designed by Javier Mariscal . The first Paralympic Games for Persons with mental handicap were held immediately after the regular Paralympic games in the Spanish capital of Madrid from 15 to 22 September. Over 1,400 athletes from 74 nations participated in the competition, which was sponsored by the Association Nacional Prestura de Servicio (ANDE) and sanctioned by
5382-422: Was Sauvage's first ocean swim. She finished the 1 km race in 25:19. In 2011, as part of the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral history project of the National Library of Australia , Ian Jobling conducted an extensive interview with Sauvage. Sauvage and Paul Nunnar lobbied Virgin Blue during 2006 to drop a requirement that people in wheelchairs be accompanied by a carer if they wish to ride on
5460-448: Was also the year that she got her first kneeling wheelchair. The pinnacle being the world-famous Boston Marathon where she recorded her first victory, in the women's wheelchair division, in 1997, breaking the stranglehold of the 'Queen of Boston', US racer Jean Driscoll . Sauvage went on to win a further three Boston titles in 1998, 1999 and 2001. She has won the Los Angeles Marathon , Honolulu Marathon and Berlin Marathon . Sauvage won
5538-520: Was awarded Paralympics Australia 2020 Coach of the Year. In November 2021, she was awarded New South Wales Institute of Sport Coach if the Year. Several Paralympians cite Sauvage as inspiring them to become athletes, including wheelchair racer Kurt Fearnley . [REDACTED] Media related to Louise Sauvage at Wikimedia Commons Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It
5616-524: Was being marketed by the Australian Paralympic Federation as Australia's top female wheelchair road racer. At the Barcelona Paralympic Games , she won gold medals in the 100 m, 200 m and 400 m and a silver in the 800 m TW4 events and finished sixth in Marathon TW3-4. In recognition of her athletic feats she was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia . Sauvage was in danger of not going to
5694-529: Was born in the British colony of Seychelles . She was born with a severe congenital spinal condition called myelomeningocele , which inhibits the function of the lower half of the body, giving limited control over the legs. In 1976 she was Perth's Telethon Child as part of a Channel 7 fund-raiser for children with disabilities. She used calipers to help walk until she received her first wheelchair. Her myelomeningocele required her to have 21 surgical operations by
5772-447: Was created by an amendment to the constitution of the Order of Australia by special letters patent signed by the Queen, on the recommendation of Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser . In March 2014 the knight and dame levels, which had been abolished in 1986 by Prime Minister Bob Hawke , were reintroduced to the Order of Australia by Tony Abbott . At the same time, Abbott announced that future appointments at this level would be recommended by
5850-408: Was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II , Queen of Australia , on the advice of then prime minister Gough Whitlam . Before the establishment of the order, Australians could receive British honours , which continued to be issued in parallel until 1992. Appointments to the order are made by the governor-general , "with the approval of The Sovereign", according to recommendations made by
5928-498: Was established on 14 February 1975 by letters patent of Queen Elizabeth II , acting as Queen of Australia , and on the advice of the newly elected Labor prime minister , Gough Whitlam . The original order had three levels: Companion (AC), Officer (AO) and Member (AM) as well as two divisions: Civil Division and Military Division. Whitlam had previously announced in 1972 (on his third day in office) that his government would no longer nominate persons for British Imperial honours (with
6006-688: Was inducted into the International Paralympic Hall of Fame . In 2014, she was inducted into the Athletics Australia Hall of Fame and the Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre Path of Champions. In November 2018, Sauvage was awarded Sport NSW Coach of the Year. Young Athlete of the Year with a Disability. In 2019, Sauvage was made a Legend in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame . She became the first Australian Paralympian to be awarded Legend status. Sauvage
6084-488: Was rejected, because Dockery was too far behind the front runners to impact the results. Sport academics who research the Paralympic Games consider this protest to be pivotal, because it shows the passion of athletes to win and the extent that sports people will go to claim gold. It also highlighted that the rivalries in the sport were real. Petitclerc said of her rivalry with Sauvage that "I dream more about Louise than I do my boyfriend." In 2002, Petitclerc beat Sauvage again at
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