Philip Craven
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Sir Philip Craven | |
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![]() Craven in 2012 | |
2nd President of the International Paralympic Committee | |
Assumed office 8 December 2001[1] | |
Preceded by | Robert Steadward |
Personal details | |
Born | Bolton, England | 4 July 1950
Residence | United Kingdom |
Education | Bolton School |
Alma mater | University of Manchester |
Sir Philip Craven MBE (born 4 July 1950) is a British sports administrator and former athlete. He is the second and current President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
Early life and education
Craven was born on 4 July 1950 in Bolton, England.[2] He was educated at Bolton School Boys' Division, where he was a keen swimmer, cricketer and tennis player. In 1966, at the age of 16, he fell during a rock-climbing expedition at Wilton Quarries, Bolton. The accident left him without the use of his legs.[3] He studied geography at the University of Manchester, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1972.[4]
Athlete
Craven represented Great Britain in wheelchair basketball at five editions of the Paralympic Games, from 1972 to 1988. He also competed in track and field athletics and swimming at the 1972 Games.[5][6]
He won gold at the wheelchair basketball World Championships in 1973, and bronze in 1975, as well as two gold medals (1971, 1974) and a silver (1993) at the European Championships. He also won gold at the European Champions Cup in 1994, and gold at the Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in 1970.[5]
Results at the Paralympic Games
Games | Events | Result | Rank |
---|---|---|---|
1972 | Athletics: Men's 100m (wheelchair, category 3) | 29.1 s. | 24 (of 41) |
1972 | Athletics: Men's slalom (category 3) | 75.4 s. | 24 (of 28) |
1972 | Swimming: Men's 50m breaststroke (category 3) | 59.45 s. | 6 (of 13, in the heats) did not advance |
1972 | Men's wheelchair basketball | Group A: lost to Argentina 48:56, won vs Sweden 44:38, won vs Netherlands 39:31, won vs Italy 40:17 Semi-final: lost to USA 36:52 Bronze medal match: lost to Argentina 39:54 |
4 (of 19) |
1976 | Men's wheelchair basketball | Group C: lost to Argentina 48:52, won vs West Germany 33:28, tied vs Spain 38:38, won vs Denmark 74:22 Quarter-final: lost to Israel 26:60 |
no rank |
1980 | Men's wheelchair basketball | Group D: lost to France 36:63, lost to Sweden 43:71, won vs Egypt 122:24 Second round: lost to W. Germany 44:56, won vs Australia 62:33, won vs Denmark 66:44 Semi-final for 9th place: lost to Belgium 23:63 Final for 11th place: lost to Spain 54:66 |
12 (of 17) |
1984 | Men's wheelchair basketball | Group C: won vs France 48:47, won vs Australia 62:42, lost to Japan 52:62, won vs Egypt 108:13 Quarter-final: lost to USA 40:78 |
no rank |
1988 | Men's wheelchair basketball | Group A: lost to USA 38:52, lost to Sweden 39:42, won vs Brazil 61:21 Quarter-final for 9th place: won vs S. Korea 60:30 Semi-final for 9th place: lost to Australia 29:40 Final for 11th place: won vs Spain 40:34 |
11 (of 17) |
Sports administrator
In 1980, alongside Horst Strohkendl and Stan Labanowich, Craven played a vital role in the development of a new classification system for wheelchair basketball athletes. Wheelchair basketball rejected its medically based classification system consisting of 3 classes, a system that was founded upon principles that forced athletes to depend on medical examinations. This progress led to a new 4-class functional system, which was democratically voted in 1982. Due to this, wheelchair basketball was increasingly associated with sport as opposed to medicine and rehabilitation, although both still play an important secondary role.
In 1988, Craven was elected Chairman of the Wheelchair Basketball Section of the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation (ISMGF), the first athlete to lead the sport worldwide. Craven's striving for self-determination and self-government pave the way for the establishment of wheelchair basketball as an independent federation, when it gave up its previous identification as a basketball section of the ISMGF to become the independent, self-governing International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) in 1993. At the First IWBF Official World Congress 1994 in Edmonton, Alberta, Philip Craven was elected the first President of IWBF, holding the office until 1998. A productive and more formalised working relationship with FIBA, the worldwide governing body for the sport of basketball, was arranged under Craven's administration, to further legitimise wheelchair basketball itself.
Craven was elected as the second President of the International Paralympic Committee in 2001, a position he continues to hold today.
He was knighted in June 2005.[7]
Notable achievements as sports administrator
- Chairman, Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball Association (GBWBA) (1977–1980, 1984–1987, 1989–1994)
- Chairman, Classification Committee, ISMWSF Basketball Section (1984–1988)
- Chief Executive Officer, International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) (1994–1998)
- Performance Director, GBWBA Men's Wheelchair Basketball Team (1998–2002)
- President, International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) (1998–2002)
- President, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) (since 2001)
- Foundation board member, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) (since 2002)
- Board member, Olympic Truce Foundation (since 2002)
- Member, IOC Commission for Culture and Olympic Education (since 2005)
- Member, IOC 2008 Beijing Co-ordination Commission (since 2002)
- Member, IOC Sport & Environment Commission (2002–2005)
- Member, International Olympic Committee (IOC) (since 2003)
- Member, Executive Board, British Olympic Association (since 2003)
- Administration Council Member, International Committee for Fair Play (since 2003)
- Board member, London 2012 Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (2005–12)
- Member, IOC Congress 2009 Commission (2006–09)
Ban of Russian paraplegic athletes
On 7 August 2016, Craven announced that the International Paralympic Committee is banning Russia from participating in the 2016 Paralympic Games for allegedly violating international doping rules.[8] This followed WADA's June 2016 report [9] with accusations of state-sponsored doping in Russia. Craven put the blame for the ban on Russia's government, stating that Russia has "catastrophically failed its para athletes," adding, "their medals-over-morals mentality disgusts me."[8] Russia's appeal to the CAS against the ban was rejected,[10] a decision that prompted President Vladimir Putin's public accusations against the international bodies responsible for imposing the ban.[11]
Other activities
Craven served as Company Secretary at the British Coal Corporation from 1986 up to 1991.
He is an Ambassador for Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organisation,[12] committed to serving peace in the world through sport.
See also
- Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
References
- ^ IPC General Assembly Elects Craven as President, The Paralympian 4/2001 – International Paralympic Committee (IPC)
- ^ "Paralympics 2012: Games set 'to take off' says IPC president". BBC. 26 August 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
- ^ Sir Philip Craven MBE oration by Professor Frank Sanderson, Liverpool John Moores University
- ^ "CRAVEN, Sir Philip (Lee)". Who's Who 2016. November 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
- ^ a b Biography, International Paralympic Committee
- ^ a b Results archive, International Paralympic Committee
- ^ "Top honours for wheelchair stars", BBC, 10 June 2005
- ^ a b "Russian Paralympic athletes banned from competing in Rio" by Marilia Brocchetto and Thom Patterson, CNN, 7 August 2016
- ^ "New WADA report provides fresh allegations on Russian doping" by Tom Sweetman, CNN, 16 June 2016
- ^ "Russia banned from Paralympic Games after appeal failure" by James Masters, CNN, 23 August 2016
- ^ "Vladimir Putin: IPC has 'humiliated itself' with Russian Paralympic ban decision" by Tom Sweetman and Sophie Eastaugh, CNN, 25 August 2016
- ^ Peace and Sport
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- IPC President`s Blog
- Sir Philip CRAVEN, MBE, official website of the Olympic Movement
- International Paralympic Committee Official Website
- IWBF Official Website
- 1950 births
- Living people
- International Paralympic Committee members
- British basketball players
- English male swimmers
- Paralympic wheelchair basketball players of Great Britain
- Paralympic swimmers of Great Britain
- Paralympic athletes of Great Britain
- Sportspeople from Bolton
- People educated at Bolton School
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Paralympics
- Swimmers at the 1972 Summer Paralympics
- Wheelchair basketball players at the 1972 Summer Paralympics
- Wheelchair basketball players at the 1976 Summer Paralympics
- Wheelchair basketball players at the 1980 Summer Paralympics
- Wheelchair basketball players at the 1984 Summer Paralympics
- Wheelchair basketball players at the 1988 Summer Paralympics
- Wheelchair category Paralympic competitors
- Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester
- Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University
- International Olympic Committee members
- Knights Bachelor
- Members of the Order of the British Empire