Contents

• Early life
• Life as a Paralympic athlete
• Achievements

Hazel Randall (nee Terry) competed in a number of disability sports winning medals at the Toronto 1976 and Seoul 1988 Paralympic Games.

Early life

Hazel was born in 1941, she became disabled after contracting polio. Hazel was involved in a number of disability sports and through that was a frequent visitor to Stoke Mandeville.

Life as a Paralympic athlete

Hazel was an accomplished athlete, as part of the Great Britain team her first Paralympics was at the Toronto 1976 Games. At these Games she achieved great success winning one gold in discus and two silver medals in shot put and pentathlon.

Hazel's medals, photos and memorabilia from the Tokyo 1976 Games

She met her husband, Martin Randall, when he visited Stoke Mandeville to play wheelchair basketball as part of his rehabilitation. He fell out of a tree when he was 11 years old suffering a serious spinal injury. He was taken to Stoke Mandeville spinal injuries unit where he remained for the next 3 to 4 years. They became an item and eventually married in 1977. Martin was 34 and Hazel was just a little older at 36.

As well as athletics, Hazel was very involved in lawn bowls and it was in this sport that she achieved further Paralympic Games success winning a bronze medal in the women’s singles at the Seoul 1988 Games.

Hazel's official jacket from the Seoul 1988 Paralympics

Achievements

In addition to her Paralympic success Hazel also achieved wider sporting success in the Commonwealth Games and the World Wheelchair Bowls Championships.

Hazel said about the 1992 World Wheelchair Bowls Championship hosted in Mojaca Spain:

They left bowls out of the Paralympics so the British took their own action and put on a championship in Spain.

Throughout her life Hazel was always proactive in many aspects of disabled sports not just as a competitor. She was Membership Secretary for the British Disabled Bowls Association.

References

• https://www.paralympic.org/hazel-randall
• Interview with Hazel and Martin's family, December 2020
• Newspaper clippings