Terry Giddy

Terence Kenneth Giddy (2 April 1950 – 18 August 2023) was an Australian Paralympic athlete with paraplegia, who won six medals over six Paralympics.

Personal life Terence Kenneth Giddy was born on 2 April 1950 in the New South Wales town of Kempsey, as the second of four children. He became paraplegic at the age of 15 after a tree-felling accident. He was married to Margaret from 1978 until her death in 2022, and had three stepsons and two grandchildren.

Terry Giddy died in Kempsey on 18 August 2023, at the age of 73. In the later part of his life, he lived at Bupa Aged Care Facility in West Kempsey.

Career

Giddy became involved in paralympic sport after a dare. He said "It began at a Christmas party...we were racing up and down the back lane and I said to the boss if I train a bit harder I may get to the Commonwealth Games. My boss and colleagues said if I got picked they would send me away and that's how it started."

Giddy's first national competition was the National Games in 1969, and his first international competition was the 1970 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Edinburgh, where he won three gold medals and a silver medal. and also participated in the Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team. He participated in the 1974 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Dunedin, New Zealand. He did not win any medals at the 2000 Games. At his farewell dinner in 2004, Chris Nunn, Head Coach of the Australian Athletics team at the Sydney Games, said "Whilst you may have travelled thousands of miles in economy class, your contribution has always been first class". He carried the flag at the opening ceremony of the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics. That year, he carried the Sydney Olympic torch.