Chris Hallam

As a teenager Chris Hallam he was good enough to compete for his country in the swimming Pool as an able bodied performer. A motorcycle accident at age 17 on his way to training left him in a wheelchair, but that was the starting point of one of the great Welsh sporting careers.

He went on to become a world champion and record holder both in and out of the pool, won the London Marathon twice and became a role model for his sport. He held world records on the Track at 100 and 200 metres in his class; he set world short and long course records in the pool for 50 metres breaststroke.

As well as winning in London he broke the course record on both occasions. In 1985 he clocked 2:19.53 and in 1987 he won in 2.08.34. He also won the Great North Run four times (1986, 1987, 1989 and 1990).

He won medals at three different Paralympic Games – Gold in the 50m breaststroke in the UK in 1984, silver in the same event in Seoul in 1988, bronze in the same Games in the 400m on the track and bronze again in 1992 in Barcelona in the 100m. He also competed in Atlanta in 1996.

He competed for Wales at two Commonwealth Games, in Auckland (1990), and in Victoria, British Columbia (1994), and also competed for Britain at World and European Championships.

He twice pushed his way around Wales in his wheelchair, in 1987 and 1997, with his training partner and fellow Paralympian John Harris, to raise money for a purpose built wheelchair-accessible training centre in Cardiff.

He later studied for his undergraduate and MBA degrees at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff and in 2002 he became a Winston Churchill Fellow writing his report on the access of disabled people to specialist training equipment and gyms.

As an administrator he organised several National events, and was Chairman of the British Wheelchair Racing Association from 1990 to 1992. In his coaching career he worked with several successful British athletes including Rose Hill, the British Record Holder for the marathon, and Dan Lucker who became world junior champion.

Chris Hallam (Wheelchair Athlete) Born in Derbyshire on 31 December, 1962; Died in Pontypool on 16 August, 2013