1998 Winter Paralympics
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 in Asia. 571 athletes competed in Nagano; as 2022 it remains the highest number of athletes competing at any Winter Paralympics. 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. Alpine skiing Sledge hockey Ice sledge racing Nordic skiing Biathlon Cross-country skiing In total seven venues were used at the 1998 Winter Olympics around four cities and towns. = M-Wave – opening/closing ceremonies, ice sledge racing Aqua Wing Arena – ice sledge hockey = Happo'one Resort: Alpine skiing (Downhill and Super-G) Snow Harp, Kamishiro: Cross-country skiing = Nozawa Onsen Ski Resort: Biathlon = Mount Higashidate: Alpine skiing (giant slalom) Mount Yakebitai, Shiga Kogen Resort: Alpine skiing (slalom) The top 10 NPCs by number of gold medals are listed below. The host nation (Japan) is highlighted. 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. The 1998 Winter Paralympics Mascot was Parabbit. Parabbit is a white rabbit with one green and one red ear. Parabbit was chosen to complement the logo of the 1998 Winter Paralympics. It was created by Sadahiko Kojima. A nationwide competition was held among students to decide on the name, which drew 10,057 entries suggesting 3,408 different names. 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. 1998 Winter Olympics International Paralympic Committee The event at SVT's open archive (in Swedish) The event at Nagano Shinano Mainich Shimbun Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine