Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | John Desmond Eden | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Wellington, New Zealand | 27 October 1955|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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John Desmond Eden (born 27 October 1955) is a leg-amputee athlete and Australian and New Zealand Paralympian.
Eden was born in Wellington, New Zealand and given up for adoption by his young parents. [1] Eden attended Matamata High School and left home at the age of 15. [1] He completed Year 12 certificate through night school while working during the day. [1] At this time his main focus was to become an All Blacks rugby player. [1] In 1976, he lost his right leg below the knee in a motorcycle accident. [1] The day before his accident, Eden was advised of his selection in the Junior All Blacks. [1] He continued to play rugby at senior club reserves level but two years later his right knee was seriously damaged and he underwent an amputation above the knee. [1] He met another amputee, Brian Portland who encouraged him to become New Zealand's first amputee Paralympian. [1] This was the start of a 20-year career in competitive Paralympic athletics. [1]
In 1994, Eden's fiancé Mandy was killed in a car accident. Mandy had played a large part in reuniting him with his birth parents. [1] Eden's father was a New Zealand representative in boxing, softball and rugby league. [1]
Eden won a silver medal in the Men's high jump C event at the 1980 Arnhem Games. He also competed in the Men's 100 m C, 400 m C and Men's Long Jump C athletics events, and the Men's 100 m Freestyle C-D – swimming event. [2] In 1982, he emigrated to Australia due to inadequate support to New Zealand Paralympic athletes. In 1984, he decided to turn his attention to the discus and stated I was not really tall enough (for the high jump) and lost a lot of natural spring after the second amputation. [1]
At the 1988 Seoul Paralympics, he competed for Australia and won a bronze medal in the Men's Discus A2A9 event. [2] At the 1990 World Championships and Games for the Disabled in Assen, Netherlands, he won a bronze medal in the men's discus 5F. [3]
In 1991, the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) established an Athletics with a Disability Program and he became an inaugural scholarship holder and was coached by Chris Nunn. [4] [5] In joining the AIS, Eden stated "Having this opportunity to train at the AIS has made all the difference and helped me improve immeasurably. And working with a coach like Chris increases my desire to continue with sport and, eventually to take up coaching myself". [6]
At the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics, he won a silver medal in the Men's Discus THS2 event and competed in the Men's Long Jump J1, Men's Shot Put THS2 and Men's Pentathlon PS3 events. [2]
He also competed in the 1994 IPC Athletics World Championships in Berlin, where he won a gold medal in discus and set a world record. [1]
Eden won a bronze medal in the Men's Discus F42 event at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics. [2]
His Paralympic Games career as a competitor finished at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics where he competed in the Men's Discus F42 and Men's 100 m T42 events. At the end of his Paralympic career in 2000, Eden said "I like competing; it is a nice way to meet people and it makes me feel normal. The Paralympics are the pinnacle for athletes like me and this is a very nice way to live my life". [7]
Eden's athletic ability was highlighted at the AIS in 1995, where in a resistance test he recorded the highest score. The test included able bodied throwers including John Minns, multiple Australian shot put champion. [1]
Eden's love of sport has continued through coaching at Frankston Athletics Club and the Victorian Institute of Sport. He has coached Paralympic bronze medallist Don Elgin [8] and Dale Stevenson, a bronze medalist at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games. [9]
Eden is currently coaching Paralympic athletes Madeleine Hogan, [10] a world leading F46 javelin thrower, Charlotte Saville, [11] and Brydee Moore. [12] He was an athletics coach with the Australian team at the 2004 Athens Games [13] and 2008 Beijing Games. [14]