Ronald “Ron” Stein
Competition | 1970
Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri
School Name: University of Illinois
Ron Stein was considered the greatest wheelchair athlete of his time. In 1960, this remarkable athlete, while competing for the champion University of Illinois Gizz Kids, set national records in the Class III (classification indicating the least disabled athlete at the time) shot put, discus and javelin. He set the 60 yard dash and 100 yard dash national records while anchoring the Gizz Kids’ 400 yard relay winning team. Ron duplicated his efforts in the Rome Paralympics in 1960 while also leading Team USA to a gold medal in wheelchair basketball. In the 1961 National Wheelchair Games, he again bested his previous field event records, tied his 60 yard and 100 yard dash records and again anchored his 400 yard relay team to victory.
Sports reporter Bob Flury wrote in the July 1961 issue of Paraplegia News: “The Gizz Kids have been blessed the past couple of years with probably the greatest wheelchair athlete anywhere in the world in the 190 lbs., blonde, crew cut, personable Ron Stein. This great athlete would have been tops in any sport if polio hadn’t weakened his legs as he was finishing high school. What we like most about Ron was that with all the fame he garnered, it has not affected him at all. He is truly a marvelous wheelchair athlete.” Ron is a charter inductee member of the National Wheelchair Athletic Association Hall of Fame, having been inducted with his Gizz Kid teammate Tim Harris.
