VII Paralympic Winter Games
Host cityNagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan
MottoFureai and Inspiration
(Japanese: ふれあいと感)
Nations32
Athletes571
Events122 in 4 sports
Opening5 March
Closing14 March
Opened by
Crown Prince Naruhito
Cauldron
Naoya Maruyama
StadiumM-Wave
Winter
Summer
1998 Winter Olympics

The 1998 Winter Paralympics (Japanese: 1998年冬季パラリンピック, Hepburn: 1998-Nen Tōki Pararinpikku), the seventh Paralympic Winter Games, were held alongside the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan from 5 to 14 March 1998. They were the first Paralympic Winter Games to be held outside Europe. 571 athletes competed in Nagano; as 2022 it remains the highest number of athletes competing at any Winter Paralympics.[1]

Sports

The games consisted of 122 events in five sports: alpine skiing, ice sledge hockey, ice sledge racing, and Nordic skiing. The sport of Nordic skiing comprised two disciplines, the biathlon and cross-country skiing.[2][3]

Venues

In total seven venues were used at the 1998 Winter Olympics around four cities and towns.[4]

Nagano City

Hakuba

Nozawaonsen

Yamanouchi

Medal table

The top 10 NPCs by number of gold medals are listed below. The host nation (Japan) is highlighted.

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Norway1891340
2 Germany14171344
3 United States1381334
4 Japan*12161341
5 Russia1210931
6 Switzerland105823
7 Spain8008
8 Austria7161134
9 Finland75719
10 France59822
Totals (10 entries)1069595296

Participants

Thirty-one National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) entered athletes at the 1998 Winter Paralympics. The number in parentheses indicates the number of participants from each NPC.[5]

Mascot

Parabbit
Mascot of the 1998 Winter Paralympics (Nagano)

The 1998 Winter Paralympics Mascot was Parabbit. Parabbit is a white rabbit with one green and one red ear. Parabbit was chosen to compliment the logo of the 1998 winter Paralympics. A vote held by students to decide on the name, resulted in Parabbit getting 3,408 votes.[6]

Opening ceremony

The theme of the Opening Ceremony was Hope, and inspired by a painting by George Frederic Watts. The theme also signifies it was the first Winter Paralympics held in Asia and the last Paralympics of the 20th century.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Winter Games Overview". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "Nagano 1998". International Paralympic Committee. 4 October 2009. Archived from the original on 4 October 2009.
  3. 1 2 "Nagano 1998". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  4. ↑ "Schedule of the Nagano Paralympics". Archived from the original on 20 April 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  5. ↑ "Nagano 1998 - ParticipantNumbers".
  6. ↑ "Nagano 1998 Paralympic Mascot Parabbit - Photos & History". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
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