London, England— Frank Ponta was posthumously inducted into the Visa Paralympic Hall of Fame at a ceremony in London this week.
Ponta, who died in June last year after a long illness, was inducted into the Hall of Fame for his work as a coach. One of the founders of the Paralympic movement in Western Australia, he helped build the movement into a phenomenon. Working first in his home state, then in Australia, and finally on the world stage, where he won a silver medal at the first Paralympic Games held in Rome in 1960. He was especially influential in the development of junior wheelchair sport.
He is best-known today as a coach of champion Paralympians such as Louise Sauvage and Priya Cooper. Today, Sauvage is herself a coach.
In addition to competing and coaching, Ponta kept scrapbooks and notes of his experiences. Today, historians of the Paralympics are using them as resources to document the early years of Paralympic sport.

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Frank Ponta inducted into the Paralympic Hall of Fame