Dino Wallen
Competition | 1983
Hometown: Woodbridge, California
Dino commenced his wheelchair athletic career as a basketball player in 1949. In 1969, at the young age of 37, he started his swimming; track & field; pentathlon; wheelchair rugby and road racing careers. In swimming, Dino competed in the individual medley; freestyle; backstroke and breaststroke. His track events were the 60 Meter; 100 Meter; 200 Meter; 400 Meter and 800 Meter races. Dino also was a member of the 4 X 100 Meter and 4 X 200 Meter Relay teams and competed in the slalom events. In field events, he competed in the shot put; discus and javelin. The pentathlon consisted of the 100 and 800 Meter track events; and the shot put, discus and javelin field events.
As a Class I-C, Dino also competed in 21 marathons, winning 20 of those, while winning all ten of the 10K races he competed in.
Wallen racked up an very impressive medal count in the National Wheelchair Games competition from 1974 to 1984. Dino collected 30 Gold, 18 Silver and 13 Bronze medals during this timeframe. Of the 30 first place finishes, 16 were national records. His medal count as a member of the Team USA in international competitions, including the 1980 Paralympics in Arnhem, Neatherlands and the 1984 Paralympics in New York was equally impressive. Dino garnered 13 Gold Medals; 15 Silver Medals and 13 Bronze medals in total. He recorded nine world records, one Paralympic records and three Pan American records at that time. Dino was also a member of the 1978 Team USA Pan American Gold Medal Wheelchair Basketball team.
Dino received the Paralyzed Veteran’s of America Jack Gerhardt Athlete of the Year award of 1982. Dino was truly one of the most versatile, all-around athletes of his time.
