History People Paralympic athletes George Monaghan Contents Life as a Paralympic athlete Retirement as a Paralympic athlete Achievements and awards In 1960, George Monaghan had an accident that left him paraplegic and in a wheelchair. He soon became well known in the paraplegic sporting movement, particularly for table tennis. His passion for the sport made him a world class athlete representing Great Britain at three Paralympic Summer Games. Image ©Tony Garrett Life as a Paralympic athlete George represented Great Britain at the Tel Aviv 1968 and Heidelberg 1972 Paralympic Summer Games, winning one gold for lawn bowls and one silver and two bronze medals for table tennis. He competed again at the Toronto 1976 Paralympic Games in the table tennis Men's Singles 2 and Men's Teams 3 events but unfortunately failed to add to his medals. He really enjoyed his days with the Stoke Paraplegic Athletic Club (SPAC) and participated at the Royal Bath & West Show Sports for the Disabled Games at Shepton Mallet. George also loved the social occasions that took place alongside the sport. Retirement as a Paralympic athlete In the early 1990s, George took on the position of Chairman of the British Wheelchair Paraplegic Table Tennis Association (BWPTTA), now British Para Table Tennis (BPTT), for three years. George died at his home on the 22nd of August 2021 after battling a short illness, leaving behind wife Dorothy, daughters Louise and Jane, son Andrew and his grandchildren. Achievements and awards Paralympic Games At the Tel Aviv 1968 Paralympic Games, George won gold in the lawn bowls Men’s Pairs with teammate William Easton. George and Paul Lyall won silver in the table tennis Men’s Doubles B event and in the Men’s Singles B, George won bronze after being beaten in the semi-final by Paul Lyall who went on to take the gold. He went on to win bronze in the table tennis Men’s Singles 3 at the Heidelberg 1972 Paralympic Games. Other sporting events George also represented England at the Third Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Edinburgh in 1970 and the Fourth Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1974. References: I. S. Brittain, From Stoke Mandeville to Stratford: A history of the Summer Paralympic Games, Champaign, Illinois, Common Ground Publishing, 2012 https://www.britishparatabletennis.com/blogs/featured-stories/george-monaghan https://paralympicanorak.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/third-commonwealth-paraplegic-games-edinburgh-scotland-1970/ https://paralympicanorak.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/fourth-commonwealth-paraplegic-games-dunedin-new-zealand-1974/ https://www.paralympic.org/paralympic-games?gclid=CjwKCAiAs92MBhAXEiwAXTi253CnWn0iTVmfRhCAzSiyR44mlMz4DMfeOwbp1XpU_qyz_ngM2OjIuBoCqTAQAvD_BwE https://www.sportsforthedisabled.org/ Manage Cookie Preferences