Gwen Buck

Gwen Buck BEM, who lived from 1929 until 13 February 2005, was a British Paralympic athlete who won gold medals in table tennis, lawn bowls and swimming. Born in Richmond, Surrey, she was left with a broken back and severed spine after a lorry hit her bicycle at a level crossing in 1943, and at Stoke Mandeville Hospital from 1946 she met Ludwig Guttmann and took up competitive sport. She won table tennis doubles gold at the 1964 Tokyo Games with Susan Cunliffe-Lister, then in 1968 in Tel Aviv won gold in both the women's pairs and singles lawn bowls and the 25 metre backstroke, and took pairs lawn bowls gold again at Heidelberg in 1972. She retired after the 1976 Games, was awarded the British Empire Medal, and was consulted on the design of the Stoke Mandeville Stadium.