Anton Flavel

Who is Anton Flavel?

Anton James Flavel, OAM is an Australian athlete with an intellectual disability. He was born in the Western Australian town of Narrogin. In his disability class he held a world record for the javelin and an Australian record in the shot put and high jump.

At the 1992 Paralympic Games for Persons with mental handicap in Madrid, Spain, which were held immediately after the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics, he won a gold medal in the men's javelin, for which he received a Medal of the Order of Australia. At the IPC Athletics World Championships in the men's javelin, he won a gold medal in 1994 and a bronze medal in 1998. At the 2000 Sydney Games, he won a gold medal in the Men's Javelin F20 event, and came ninth in the Men's Shot Put F20 event.

In 1997, he became the first intellectually disabled athlete to receive a residential scholarship from the Australian Institute of Sport and was coached by Chris Nunn. The move to the AIS highlighted the more professional approach to training. In Perth, he was doing three sessions per week and at the AIS he was doing thirteen sessions. He left the AIS after the 2000 Sydney Games.

In 2000, he received an Australian Sports Medal.