{{Short description|Australian Paralympic athlete (1945–2025)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Use Australian English|date=March 2018}} {{Infobox sportsperson| | name = Jan Randles<br><small>{{Post-nominals|country=AUS|OAM}}</small> | image = Jan Randles 2024.jpg|alt=Photo of female paralympian seated with art works in background | imagesize = | caption = Randles in 2024 | fullname = | nicknames = | nationality = {{AUS}} | club = | collegeteam = | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1945|8|23}} | birth_place = Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2025|1|12|1945|8|23}} | death_place = Frankston, Victoria, Australia | height = | weight = | medaltemplates= {{MedalSport |Athletics}} {{MedalCompetition|Paralympic Games}} {{MedalGold | 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville |Women's Marathon 4}} {{MedalBronze | 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville |Women's 5000 m 4}} }}
'''Janice Margaret Randles''' {{Post-nominals|country=AUS|OAM}} (23 August 1945 – 12 January 2025) was an Australian Paralympic athlete who competed in the 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville Paralympics and won two medals - gold and bronze. She was the first female Australian Paralympian to win a Paralympic Games marathon. The next Australian woman to win a Paralympic marathon was Madison de Rozario at the 2020 Summer Paralympics.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pender |first=Kieran |date=3 March 2022 |title=Half a million words and 20m views: the project preserving Australia’s Paralympic history |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/mar/03/half-a-million-words-and-20m-views-the-project-preserving-australias-paralympic-history |access-date=3 March 2022}}</ref>
Randles was awarded Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024 for service to Paralympic sports.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=10 June 2024 |title=Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the General Division |url=https://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-06/KB24%20-%20Honours%20List%20Media%20Notes%20-%20Order%20of%20Australia%20-%20OAM.pdf |access-date=11 June 2024 |website=Governor-General of Australia |archive-date=10 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610193347/https://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-06/KB24%20-%20Honours%20List%20Media%20Notes%20-%20Order%20of%20Australia%20-%20OAM.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
== Background == Randles was born in Melbourne on 23 August 1945.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Randles |first=Jan |date=8 December 2021 |title=Australian First Female Paralympic Marathon Gold Medallist: Jan Randles Journey |url=https://australiansportreflections.com/2021/12/08/australian-first-female-paralympic-marathon-gold-medallist-jan-randles-journey/ |access-date=3 March 2022 |website=Australian Sport Reflections |archive-date=1 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250201033354/https://australiansportreflections.com/2021/12/08/australian-first-female-paralympic-marathon-gold-medallist-jan-randles-journey/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1974 whilst holidaying in Bali, she fell off a motorbike and broke her back.<ref name=":0" /> Her working career was in the advertising industry.<ref name=":0" /> Randles died at the Frankston Palliative Care Centre, in Frankston, Victoria, on 12 January 2025, at the age of 79.<ref name=":0" />
== Sporting career == Randles was classified "4" athlete in the Women's Marathon, 5000 m, 1500 m and 800 m at the 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville Paralympics.<ref name="J. Randles - IPC Historical Results Database">{{cite web|title=J. Randles - IPC Historical Results Database (athlete search by surname: Randles)|url=https://www.paralympic.org/results/historical|publisher=International Paralympic Committee (IPC)|accessdate=13 July 2016|archive-date=28 June 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250628142341/https://www.paralympic.org/results/historical|url-status=live}}</ref> She won two medals: a gold medal in the Women's Marathon 4 event and a bronze in the Women's 5000 m 4 event.<ref name="J. Randles - IPC Historical Results Database"/>
In 1985, she won the 100m, 200m and 400m events at the Australia Games.<ref name=":0" /> She competed at the 1985 World Cup in Athletics in Canberra in the women’s 800m demonstration race where she came second to world champion Monika Saker.<ref name=":0" />
At the 32nd International Stoke Mandeville Games in 1986, she won gold medals in the Women's 5000m and marathon, silver in the Women's 400m and bronze medals in the Women's 800m and 1500m.<ref name=":1" />
== Resources about == A collection of biographical cuttings on Randles is available at the National Library of Australia,<ref>{{Cite web |title=[Biographical cuttings on Jan Randles, sportswoman, containing one or more cuttings from newspapers or... - Catalogue {{!}} National Library of Australia |url=https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/2009881 |access-date=13 February 2024 |website=catalogue.nla.gov.au |language=en |archive-date=13 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213070011/https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/2009881 |url-status=live }}</ref> and she is featured in a video published in 2012<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012 |title=Disability Sport and Recreation 50th anniversary mini-documentary |url=https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/5e41fbd321ea670e503a43fe |access-date=11 March 2024 |website=Victorian Collections |language=en}}</ref> to mark the 50th anniversary of Disability Sport and Recreation.<ref>{{Citation |title=DSR 50th Anniversary Mini Documentary |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1RAmqyRJLY&t=0 |access-date=11 March 2024 |language=en}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist|1}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Randles, Jan}} Category:1945 births Category:2025 deaths Category:Paralympic athletes for Australia Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Category:Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Category:Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Category:Medalists at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Category:Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Category:Australian women wheelchair racers Category:Athletes from Melbourne Category:Sportswomen from Victoria (state) Category:Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Category:20th-century Australian sportswomen