Bill Lean

A pioneer during the early years of New Zealand international para sport, Bill Lean played a pivotal role in the development of disability athletics as both an athlete and administrator.

Unassuming and modest, Bill’s greatest triumph came when striking gold in the shot put 4 at the 1976 Toronto Paralympic Games and he later played an influential role as a long-standing secretary for Parafed Otago.

Born in Dunedin in 1942 the second eldest of five siblings, Bill was a keen sportsman in his youth playing rugby and representing Port Chalmers United Rowing Club.

However, his world was to lurch in a different direction after breaking his back falling out of a tree at the home of his future wife’s auntie.

“It was just before Christmas and because she had no Christmas tree, he climbed 20ft up a nearby pine tree to cut off a branch as somewhere to hang the presents,” explains Margaret, whom he later went on to marry for 50 years. “Unfortunately, he slipped and fell while the branch stayed up there.”

Aged just 19 at the time the accident left Bill permanently in a wheelchair, but he refused to complain or get down about the injury.

“He never dwelled on the accident,” explains Margaret. “He just got on with life.”

Within a year of the accident Bill was encouraged to join a small group of disability athletes in Dunedin. A big man of around 130kg with good natural strength he quickly gravitated towards weightlifting and the throwing events – shot, discus and javelin.

Inspired by the coaching of John Masters he went weight training twice a week while for most throwing sessions he would opt to train at a recreational field rather than at a training track.

“After work on a Friday we would meet with his training partners and their wives for a potluck dinner,” she recalls. “There was a green area just outside the RSA and that’s where Bill and the others would often train.”

A regular competitor on the South Island athletics circuit he made gradual improvements before experiencing a huge turning point in his career when winning selection to compete for New Zealand at the 1966 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Jamaica.

“As I recall the team was all from the North Island but that didn’t constitute a full New Zealand team,” explains Margaret. “They needed someone from the South Island, must have heard about Bill’s feats and selected him.”

Representing his country in weightlifting, shot put, discus throw, javelin and archery he failed to make the podium in Kingston – but according to Margaret, it was a life-changing experience for Bill.

“It was there he got his first taste of international sport and for the next 14 years he performed all over the world,” she explains.

Working for much of his life as a gunsmith, Bill won selection for the first ever New Zealand Paralympic team which appeared at the 1968 Games in Tel Aviv. Competing in table tennis, archery and athletics he placed fifth in the men’s shot put C, ninth in the discus and 35^th in the javelin and was proud to have featured in a trailblazing New Zealand team in Israel led by the inspirational Eve Rimmer, who won the full suite of medals in the throws events.

His international journey continued the next year when he won weightlifting gold, shot put silver and discus bronze at the Stoke Mandeville Games in England before going on to enjoy more success at the 1970 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Edinburgh snaring archery and shot put golds and a trio of silver medals in weightlifting, discus and pentathlon.

Given his rising international status he was hopeful of medal success at the 1972 Paralympic Games in Heidelberg, Germany. However, his dreams of competing there were dashed when on the eve of the Games he was hospitalised with an abscess on his tailbone and he was forced to withdraw.

“He was devastated to miss out on competing and being with his mates,” recalls Margaret.

He bounced back at the 1974 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in his home city of Dunedin. In the prime of his career, he won gold medals in shot and javelin as well as in weightlifting, where Bill lifted a heavyweight world record 202.5kg. He also secured discus silver and pentathlon bronze. 

“I remember I got a bit overwhelmed and excited after Bill lifted the world record,” she recalls. “I went over to him to give him a big hug, but he didn’t like it and told me to go away.”

The highlight of his career, however, came two years later at the 1976 Toronto Paralympic Games. Proudly wearing the New Zealand vest he claimed a gold medal in the shot put 4 – courtesy of a world record throw of 8.87m. Placing seventh in the men’s discus throw 4 and 13^th in the javelin, it was a memorable experience for Bill, although Margaret says receiving news of her husband’s results could be painstakingly slow.

“I can’t specifically remember when I heard Bill had won, but sometimes I only found out the results after the team had arrived home,” she says.

More success continued the following year at the FESPIC (Far East and South Pacific Games for the Disabled) in Sydney when he secured shot put gold as well as javelin silver and gold in weightlifting.

Bill moved on to Arnhem in the Netherlands to compete at the 1980 Paralympic Games but aged 38 at the time he was denied the opportunity to compete.

“Unbeknown to him he had suffered a heart attack,” explains Margaret. “Earlier that year he had travelled down to Invercargill to compete, but he felt sick, pulled out of the competition and spent all weekend in bed. The doctor had said Bill was suffering from an infection. But after travelling to Holland all competitors were given a thorough medical check. It was here doctors found damage on the heart tissue pointing towards a heart attack, which he’d probably suffered while in Invercargill.”

“Devastated” to miss out on competing he instead assisted broadcaster Paul Holmes on his reporting of the Games – the first time the Paralympics had gained mainstream coverage in New Zealand.

Returning home and undergoing a quintuple heart bypass he retired from sport. 

Bill remained connected with Para sport through role as secretary for Parafed Otago. Meanwhile, he also served as a trustee of Paraloan – a charitable trust that provides financial assistance for people with a disability.

Following a short illness Bill died at the age of 73 in 2015.

Margaret says Bill was proud of the rise in prominence of a Para sport. He was delighted to witness the development of athletes competing with a wider range of disabilities and believed his accident changed his life for the better.

“He always reckoned if he had never broken his back, he would never have got the chance to have seen the world,” she says.