Background
Giddy was born on 2 April 1950 in the New South Wales town of Kempsey, as the second of four children.
basketball player athletics competitor
Giddy was born on 2 April 1950 in the New South Wales town of Kempsey, as the second of four children.
He became paraplegic at the age of 15 after a tree-felling accident. He is 1.8 metres (5 ft 11 in) tall. Giddy became involved in paralypic sport after a dare.
He said "lieutenant began at a Christmas party..we were racing up and down the back lane and I said to the boss if I train a bit harder I may get to the Commonwealth Games.
My boss and colleagues said if I got picked they would send me away and that"s how it started."
He participated in the 1974 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Dunedin, New Zealand. He was selected but did not participate in the 1976 Toronto Paralympics due to illness, and also did not participate in the 1980 Arnhem Paralympics.
Just before the 2000 Sydney Paralympics, his classification was changed from F56 to F55, and he was told that he had been competing in the wrong disability group for his entire career. Giddy regretted his disqualification by video footage in the shot put at the Sydney Games after throwing a world record.
In 2002, while training in Germany for the world titles in France, he cracked his sternum and hurt his back in a fall.
He then prepared for the 2004 Athens Paralympics, but the back injury had flared up again, and the plate in his back had broken in half. He retired in early 2004 due to the injury. At his farewell dinner in 2004, Chris Nunn, Head Coach of the Australian Athletics team at the Sydney Games, said "Whilst you may have travelled thousands of miles in economy class, your contribution has always been first class".
That year, he carried the Sydney Olympic torch.
He also received an Australia Day award and was given the key to the town of Kempsey. He was one of three Paralympians who campaigned about work safety for WorkCover during and after the 2000 Summer Paralympics.
In 2010, his face was on the cover of the Kempsey White Pages and Yellow Pages.
Quotations: "Whilst you may have travelled thousands of miles in economy class, your contribution has always been first class".