Jim Mathis
Competition | 1977
Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio
As a sixteen year old sophmore at Cathedral Latin High School, Jim was involved in a serious car accident that left him with a paralyzing injury to his spinal cord. After many months of rehabilatation, Jim returned to high school to graduate in 1950. Upon graduation, at the tender age of 19, Jim founded the Cleveland Comets Wheelchair Sports team that went on to compete at the local, national and international levels in multiple sports. As if this weren’t achievement enough for a young man, he also served as a Board Member for the Northeast Ohio Rehabilitation Association; Boy Scouting for the handicapped; Cleveland Wheelchair Sports; and was also named to Chair the Governor’s Subcommittee for the Elimination of Architectural Barriers. Jim also served as an accessibility consultant for the Cuyahoga Regional Transit Authority.
In all of his spare time, Jim was also an outstanding athlete, particularly in Archery. He was the National Wheelchair Archery Champion in 1957, 1958, 1959 and 1967. He was a member of Team USA at three Paralympic competitions: 1960 in Rome; 1964 in Tokyo; and 1972 in Heidelberg, Germany. Jim garnered 2 Paralympic gold medals and 2 silver medals in his career. In addition, he competed in three Stoke Mandeville Games (1961, 1962, 1963) and took home five gold medals and a silver. He also was a member of Team USA at the 1967 Pan American Games in Winnepeg, Canada where he won a gold and silver medal. Jim also was an avid bowler and was the Class 1 National Champion at the National Wheelchair Games in 1963, 1966 and 1968.
