Eve Rimmer. Photo: Supplied
Eve Rimmer, who blazed a trail for Paralympics sport in New Zealand, has been posthumously recognised for her service.
Rimmer, who won eight golds among 14 medals overall across four Paralympics Games between 1968 and 1980, has been awarded with the Paralympics Order of Merit, with members of her family accepting it at a ceremony in Bay of Plenty.
Her Paralympics medal haul has only been surpassed in recent years by Dame Sophie Pascoe.
Rimmer, who died in 1996, became a household name through her sporting exploits and was a passionate advocate for disability rights.
She was paralysed after a car accident when she was 15, spending the next 13 months rehabilitating in hospital. She showed fierce determination to learn to walk again and it took some years for her to accept that she could not walk without crutches and calipers.
She found freedom in sport, initially in swimming and kayaking. But it was in field athletics that she excelled.
At her first Paralympics in Tel Aviv in 1968 she won gold in javelin, silver in shot put and 50m freestyle swimming, and bronze in discus. She was the sole New Zealand medallist at those games.
At the next three Paralympics, she won:
- Gold in in the pentathlon and shot put, silver in javelin and discus at Heidelberg, Germany in 1972;
- Gold in pentathlon, discus, shot put and javelin at Toronto, Canada, in 1976;
- Gold in shotput, silver in archery at Arnehem in the Netherlands, in 1980.
Rimmer was the first Paralympic athlete inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1990 and was awarded a British Empire Medal in 1973 for her working promoting Para sport. She was also runner-up in the New Zealand Sportsman of the Year awards in 1972.
Daughter Wendy Gibb and grandson Chris Gibb were presented with the order of merit pin and certificate at the Festival of Disability Sport, hosted by Parafed Bay of Plenty on Saturday.
Wendy Gibb said the family was delighted Rimmer's contribution to Para sport had been recognised in such a way.
"Our mother would have been thrilled to receive this award. She inspired so many with her resilience, determination and spirit. Her journey was one marked by perseverance as she overcame obstacles that would have stopped most of us in our tracks.
"On top of everything, she had to learn how to cope raising two young children with her limited mobility, as she refused for many years to use a wheelchair."
PNZ chairperson Jana Rangooni said Rimmer had left a great legacy within the Paralympic movement and beyond.
"Eve is recognised as offering an open and frank portrayal of life as a disabled person at a time when such matters were rarely discussed openly. Few people shifted the needle more in New Zealand for greater acceptance and understanding of disability like Eve."