Michael Shelton

Michael Shelton
Personal information
NationalityBritish
BornAround 1941
Newstead/ Kirkby/ Annesley
DiedJanuary 2022 (aged 80–81)
Newstead
SpouseIris Turner
Relative(s)victor shelton, tony shelton, Tommy shelton, annie shelton, Arthur shelton + 2 more
Medal record
Representing  Great Britain
Paralympic Games
Snooker
Gold medal – first place 1964 Tokyo Men's open
Gold medal – first place 1968 Tel Aviv Men's open
Gold medal – first place 1972 Heidelberg Men's paraplegic open
Silver medal – second place 1960 Rome Men's open
Bronze medal – third place 1976 Toronto Men's 2-5
Lawn bowls
Gold medal – first place 1976 Toronto Men's singles wh

Michael Shelton is a British sportsman who competed at the Summer Paralympic Games five times between 1960 and 1976 in snooker and other sports. He won six Paralympic medals, four gold, a silver and a bronze.[1] He also won gold at the 1974 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games.[2]

Shelton was from Newstead, Nottinghamshire and had been a miner at Newstead Colliery. His back was injured in 1958 by a roof fall, and he was paralysed from the waist down.[3][4] In 1969 he married Iris Turner, who had been a nursing sister on his ward when he was in hospital.[5]

He played for the Lodge Moor Hospital paraplegic snooker team, which in 1974 was refused entry to the Sheffield and District Works Sports Association league, on the basis that they would gain unfair advantage from playing all of their fixtures at their home venue, apparently failing to acknowledge that the team would be unable to play at other venues with stairs or limited space around the tables. The team was subsequently given the chance to participate in the Sheffield Social Snooker League and play all their games at their own home base.[6]

  1. ^ "Michael Shelton". Paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Shelton and Haslam defend olympic titles". Snooker Scene. August 1976. p. 15.
  3. ^ "TOKYO GOLD". bufvc.ac.uk. British Universities Film & Video Council. Archived from the original on 22 February 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2016. Michael Shelton, a paraplegic miner, wins a gold medal in the paraplegic Olympic Games
  4. ^ "Notts. man in the Tokyo wheel-chair Olympic games". Nottingham Evening Post. 7 November 1964. p. 8.
  5. ^ "Went to hospital and found a wife". Nottingham Guardian. 29 September 1969. p. 5.
  6. ^ "Offload". Community Care. IPC Building and Contract Journals. 4 September 1974. p. 11.