Martha Gustafson

Personal information
Full name	Martha Sandoval Gustafson
Born	(1950-01-08) January 8, 1950 (age 75) Tampico, Mexico
Height	145 cm (4 ft 9 in)
Weight	60 kg (132 lb)
Sport
Country	Mexico (1976–1980)  Canada (1984–)
Disability class	F52
Medal record Paralympic Games Table tennis 1976 Toronto Singles 1C Swimming 1980 Arnhem 25 m backstroke 1B 1980 Arnhem 25 m freestyle 1B 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville 25 m Freestyle 1B 1976 Toronto 25 m backstroke 1B 1976 Toronto 25 m breaststroke 1B 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville 25 m Backstroke 1B Athletics 1976 Toronto 60 m 1B 1976 Toronto Club throw 1B 1976 Toronto Discus throw 1B 1980 Arnhem Discus throw 1B 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville 100 m 1A 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville 200 m 1A 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville 400 m 1A 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville 800 m 1A 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville Discus throw 1B 1980 Arnhem 60 m 1B 1980 Arnhem Shot put 1B 1980 Arnhem Club throw 1B

Martha Sandoval Gustafson (born January 8, 1950) is a Mexican-Canadian Paralympic medallist in table tennis, swimming, and athletics. As a Mexican Paralympian, Gustafson won a total of twelve medals, which includes three golds at the 1976 Summer Paralympics and two golds and the 1980 Summer Paralympics. After she moved to Canada in 1981, Gustafson won six golds and one silver at the 1984 Summer Paralympics for Canada. In 2020, Gustafson became part of the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame.

Gustafson was born in Tampico, Mexico on January 8, 1950. When she was a child, she became sick with polio and required the use of wheelchair. Gustafson played various sports throughout her childhood including curling and shot put.^[1] In 1981, she moved from Mexico to Toronto, Canada.^[2]

Gustafson played in various sports throughout her career including swimming, table tennis and athletics for both Mexico and Canada.^[3] For Mexico, Martha Sandoval competed at the 1976 Summer Paralympics and 1980 Summer Paralympics, winning a combined total of six gold and six silver.^[4] Alternatively, Martha Gustafson represented Canada at the 1984 Summer Paralympics, where she won six golds and one silver.^[5][6] For the 1988 Summer Paralympics, Gustafson won no medals in her three athletic events for Canada.^[7] Overall, she won one Paralympic medal in table tennis, six in athletics, and twelve in swimming.^[6]

Apart from the Paralympics, Gustafson won bronze in shot put at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships with a Championship Record of 3.45 metres.^[8] She also competed in the discus at that event and placed fourth.^[7] That same year, she won gold in shot put at the 2011 Canadian Track and Field Championships.^[9] A few years later, Gustafson came in 8th place in discus and 5th place in shot put at the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships.^[10][7]

In 2016, Gustafson won silver at the 2016 Canadian Track and Field Championships in discus.^[11] For her 2019 events, Gustafson was seventh at the discus event during the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships.^[12] In the 2019 Parapan American Games, Gustafson won bronze in the discus.^[13]

Gustafson was a nominee for the Female Athlete With a Disability of the Year award at the 2010 and 2011 Ontario Sports Awards.^[14][15] In 2015, Martha Sandoval Gustafson was nominated for the Female Field Para Athlete award for Athletics Ontario.^[16] In 2020, Gustafson was inducted into the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame.^[17] That year, she was named the 2021 Bob Secord Award recipient from ParaSport Ontario.^[18] Gustafson was married and had one child.^[19]

• Martha Gustafson at the International Paralympic Committee
• Martha Gustafson at IPC.InfostradaSports.com (archived)
• Martha Sandoval Gustafson at the Canadian Paralympic Committee