33 Facts About Libby Kosmala

Elizabeth "Libby" Dudley Kosmala was born on 8 July 1942 and is an Australian shooter with paraplegia.

Libby Kosmala represented Australia at twelve Paralympics from 1972 to 2016, and won thirteen medals, nine of them gold.

Libby Kosmala was born with club feet, which were straightened out with plasters and bandages.

Libby Kosmala was initially classified as having spina bifida, but at the age of 50, she discovered that her paraplegia was due to birth-related complications; she was delivered in a long operation using forceps by a cardiologist.

Libby Kosmala is paralysed from the waist down, and her spine is of normal thickness down to the middle of her back, thins out to the size of a pencil, then comes out normally again.

Libby Kosmala learnt to stand at the age of seven, and her parents made her walk from 20 to 30 minutes a day from then until she was seventeen years old.

Libby Kosmala learnt to walk in full-length callipers, surgical boots, and with two walking sticks.

Libby Kosmala attended Loreto Convent School, where she was not allowed to do physical activities.

Libby Kosmala trained to be a secretary at the rehabilitation unit of the Royal Adelaide Hospital, and received her first job as a secretary at the Adelaide Botanic Garden at the age of 20.

Libby Kosmala was there for eleven years, then transferred to the heart and lung investigative unit of the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Libby Kosmala worked as a public relations officer for the spina bifida association for twelve years before retiring.

Libby Kosmala met her husband, Stan Kosmala, in the 1970s through wheelchair sport.

Libby Kosmala won a gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Paralympics in lawn bowls.

Libby Kosmala was introduced to wheelchair sport by a patient at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, a few months before starting work at the Adelaide Botanic Garden.

Libby Kosmala first competed nationally at the 1966 National Wheelchair Games in Brisbane.

Libby Kosmala competed in foil fencing, swimming, wheelchair racing, field events, and archery.

Libby Kosmala won two gold medals in archery and foil fencing, a silver medal in the pentathlon, and four bronze medals in swimming and wheelchair racing events at the 1970 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Edinburgh, in her first international event.

Libby Kosmala initially had to raise all her own money for the games, but after a radio interview and a newspaper article about her plight, John Eustice Motors gave her a cheque with all the money required for the games.

Libby Kosmala was introduced to rifle shooting in the early 1970s, and consistently hit the target on her first try at the sport.

Libby Kosmala participated in every Paralympics from then until the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games without winning medals, though her scores gradually improved over time.

Libby Kosmala was the Australian flag bearer for the opening ceremony at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Libby Kosmala achieved her best ever result in the Women's Air Rifle Standing SH1- event at the 2008 Beijing Games, where she narrowly missed out on a medal.

Libby Kosmala was Australia's oldest representative at the Beijing Games and the oldest Paralympian overall at the 2012 London Games, where she announced her retirement.

Libby Kosmala announced her retirement from all competitive shooting in August 2020.

Libby Kosmala received scholarships from the South Australian Institute of Sport every year of her career beginning in 1985.

Libby Kosmala eventually won the competition but the trophy was awarded to the person who came second rather than her.

Libby Kosmala used borrowed wheelchairs while in Germany, and when she arrived home with no wheelchair to return to, she said that it was the first time in her life that she really felt "disabled".

Libby Kosmala played a part in the introduction of disabled parking permits in South Australia, after accumulating and refusing to pay many parking fines for parking too long in a fifteen-minute parking area.

Libby Kosmala won a court case against the City of Adelaide on the issue, but was asked to pay her court costs, which were covered by an anonymous donor.

In 2013, Libby Kosmala became the inaugural patron of Technical Aid to the Disabled South Australia, a charity that aims to help people with disabilities overcome problems by designing and building or modifying devices where no other solution is readily available.

In 1985, Libby Kosmala received a Medal of the Order of Australia "for service to the sport of air rifle shooting".

Libby Kosmala received an Australian Sports Medal in 2000 and a Centenary Medal in 2001.

In 2019, Libby Kosmala was inducted into the South Australian Sport Hall of Fame.