Julie Dowling (athlete)
Australian Paralympic athlete
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Julie Caroline Van Keulen (née Dowling), BEM[1] (born 7 December 1959)[2] is an Australian Paralympic athlete.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Julie Caroline Dowling | |||||||||||
| Nationality |  Australia | |||||||||||
| Born | 7 December 1959 | |||||||||||
Medal record
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Biography
Born in Tasmania, Dowling had a car accident as a teenager that left her paraplegic.[2] Her first national competition was the 1981 National Para Quad Games, where she won three gold medals and broke three Australian records in javelin, shot put and discus.[2] She then competed at the 1982 FESPIC Games, where she won three gold medals at the same events, breaking a world record in the javelin. At the 1983 Stoke Mandeville Games, she won a gold medal in the javelin with yet another world record, a silver medal in the discus and a bronze medal in the shot put.[2] At the 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville Paralympics, she won a gold medal in the Women's Javelin 4 event, breaking a Paralympic record. She also finished fourth in the Women's Shot Put and Women's Discus.[3][4][5][6] She retired from competition after the games.[2]
Recognition
After the 1984 games, Dowling won three Mercury W.D. & H.O. Wills Star of Sport awards, a Sport Australia Award, a national Para Quad trophy for the best female athlete in international events, and a TAS TV Sportswoman of the Year Award.[2] She was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 1985 New Year Honours "for services to the physically handicapped."[1][7] In 2005, she was inducted into the Tasmanian Sporting Hall of Fame.[2]