Weir, Maughan, Loeffler and Vestey inducted into Hall of Fame

Great Britain’s David Weir, Margaret Maughan, Eva Loeffler and Mark Vestey have been inducted into to the Stoke Mandeville Hall of Fame in Great Britain by Her Royal Highness, the Countess of Wessex on 8 October.

The four inductees have a deep connection with the Stoke Mandeville Stadium, WheelPower and the Paralympic Movement and are acclaimed for their extraordinary contribution to British wheelchair sport.

Six-time Paralympic gold medal winner Weir expressed to the British Paralympic Committee that he holds Stoke Mandeville very close to his heart.

He said: “It’s a great honour to be here and be named with great athletes and Sir Ludwig Guttmann himself.

“I have many fond memories and it’s like a second home to me, coming here for sports most of my junior career and I still compete here for the national games and I’m sending athletes here to race from my own academy.”

The Hall of Fame will take pride of place at the entrance of Stoke Mandeville Stadium and will be seen by nearly half a million visitors every year.

Pioneers of the Paralympic Movement, Loeffler and Maughan, are both recognised for their contribution to the development of wheelchair sport.

Loeffler has been recognised as the longest serving volunteer of the Paralympic Movement since her involvement in the first Stoke Mandeville Games in 1948.

Following in her father - the founder of the Paralympic Games - Sir Ludwig Guttmann’s steps, she became Chairperson of the British Paralympic Committee and remains a Vice President of WheelPower.

Maughan was Great Britain’s first ever Paralympic gold medal winner at Rome 1960. A patient of Sir Ludwig Guttmann at the world famous National Spinal Injury Centre at Stoke Mandeville, she is a pioneer of the Paralympic Movement.

Vestey has been President of WheelPower for over 23 years and a central force in providing opportunity to those with an impairment, with nearly 40,000 people taking part in sport at Stoke Mandeville Stadium every year.

The redevelopment of the stadium in 2003 would not be possible without Vestey’s influence and the 10.2 million GBP raised by the Sporting Chance Committee, which he also spearheads.

The newly unveiled names have joined original members Sir Ludwig Guttmann, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Sir Philip Craven MBE and Caz Walton OBE.

For more information, visit the British Paralympic Committee website.