Paul Narracott was the first Australian sportsperson to have represented Australia at both a Summer (Los Angeles, 1984) and Winter Olympics (Albertville, 1992).
Paul was born 8th October 1959 in Brisbane and his family moved to Redcliffe when Paul was young. He attended school at Scarborough State School and Redcliffe High School where he, and his brother Roger, excelled at sports from a young age.
Starting his career as a track sprinter, Paul was Australian Junior 100/200 metres champion.
In 1977 he won gold at the 100 metres at the Pacific Conference Games, in Canberra, and he also won silver in the 200m, and took two bronzes in the 4x100m, and 4x400m at these Championships.
New York Times Dec 4th 1977:
"CANBERRA, Australia, Dec. 3 (AP)—Australia, which did not capture a track and field medal in the 1976 Montral Olympic Games, won six gold medals to lead the five competing nations today in the opening day of the Pacific Conference Games.
The United States squad was competing without several top athletes who had academic and other athletic conflicts.
Only 14,000 people showed up for the opening day at Canberra's newlyconstructed athletic stadium. Organizers had expected a crowd of 20,000.
Paul Narracott, an 18-year-old from Australia, captured the 100‐meter dash in 10.52 seconds. Bill Collins of the United States was second."
He also competed at the World Cup in the 100 metres for Oceania where he finished 8th.
In 1978, Narracott ran 10.0 flat winning the Australian Championships.
He then competed in the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton where he reached all three finals finishing 6th in the 100 metres, 4th in the 200 metres, and 7th with the sprint relay team.
He chose to not compete at the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to a partial boycott encouraged by the government.
In 1981, he competed at the Universiade, where he reached the semi-finals of both sprints.
In 1982, he competed in the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, where again he reached the finals of 100, 200, and 4x100, where he finished 4th in all three events, narrowly missing out on a medal, especially in the 100 metres.
He competed in the World Championship in Helsinki in 1983, where he reached the 100 metres final finishing in 7th. He also ran in the 200 metres but went out in the Quarter finals.
In 1984 he ran a national hand time record of 9.9 in Brisbane, afterwards he had a victory over Mel Lattany at Melbourne, running a then Australian record of 10.26.
He went on to the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles to compete in the 100/200 but did not advance past the Quarter finals.
In 1977 he won his first of six Australian senior 100 metres championships and was fastest man in Australia also in 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, and 1984.
He was also 2nd in the 200 metres championships on four occasions.
His personal best in the 100 metres was 9.9 sec in 1984, and for the 200 metres 20.4 in 1979.
He also competed for the Australian two-man Bobsleigh team alongside Glen Turner at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, making him the first Australian Olympian to compete at both Summer and Winter Games. In 2014 Jana Pittman became the second Australian to achieve this feat, also competing as a track and field athlete and in the bobsled events in Sochi.
Narracott's niece is skeleton racer Jaclyn Narracott, who competed for Australia at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and won the silver medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Paul Narracott is listed on the wall of the Redcliffe Wall of Fame:
A collection of portrait and information honouring the achievements of individuals who have influenced and shaped Redcliffe. The collection is in the Jetty Arcade at 139-141 Redcliffe Parade.
For a complete list of people who appear on the wall click on the following blog post: