The 1994 Winter Paralympics ( no, Paralympiske vinterleker 1994; nn, Paralympiske vinterleikane 1994), the sixth

Paralympic Winter Games The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete in snow and ice sports. The event includes athletes with mobility impairments, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. Th ...

, were held in

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

, Norway, from 10 to 19 March 1994. These Games marked the second time the Paralympic Winter Games were held in the same location as the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

and with the first with the same Organizing Committee, a tradition that has continued through an agreement of cooperation between the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

(IOC) and the

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and fun ...

(IPC).

Ice sledge hockey Sledge hockey, also known as Sled hockey in American English, and Para ice hockey in international competition, is an adaptation of ice hockey for players who have a physical disability. The sport was invented in the early 1960s at a rehabilita ...

, which became an immediate crowd favorite, was added to the program. These Paralympic Games are the only to be held two years after the previous Games due to the shift in the Summer and Winter games schedule. The 1994 Winter Games were the first Paralympic Games organized by the

(IPC).

Symbol and mascot of the games

The Games were represented by an emblem depicting the sun people. This image portrayed the ideas of power, vitality, strength and energy, all of which are characteristics of the athletes who took part. These characteristics were also to be found in the mascot Sondre, the

troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...

. Sondre, who was also an amputee, was the result of a nationwide school competition won by

Janne Solem Janne is a common given name in the Nordic countries. In Denmark, Norway and Estonia it is considered a feminine name, while in Sweden and Finland it is considered masculine. In Sweden and Finland it is often used as a nickname for people with r ...

. The mascot was then designed to its final appearance by Tor Lindrupsen. The name for the mascot was chosen in a separate competition and derives from the great skiing pioneer

Sondre Nordheim Sondre Norheim, born Sondre Auverson, (10 June 1825 – 9 March 1897) was a Norwegian skier and pioneer of modern skiing. Sondre Norheim is known as the father of Telemark skiing. Background Sondre Auverson was born at Øverbø, a little ...

Medalists

The 1994 Paralympics consisted 133 events in five disciplines in four sports.

made its Paralympic debut as the first winter team sport at these games. * Alpine skiing - Paralympic pictogram

Alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

Ice sledge hockey - Paralympic pictogram

Sledge hockey Sledge hockey, also known as Sled hockey in American English, and Para ice hockey in international competition, is an adaptation of ice hockey for players who have a physical disability. The sport was invented in the early 1960s at a rehabilitat ...

Ice sledge speed racing - Paralympic pictogram

Ice sledge racing Ice sledge racing is a Paralympic sport where contestants use a lightweight sledge and propel themselves using two poles. As a modern organized sport, it was available as a Paralympic sport between 1980–1988 and 1994–1998. It is contested ...

* Nordic skiing ** Biathlon - Paralympic pictogram

Biathlon The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not tim ...

Cross-country skiing - Paralympic pictogram

Cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

Medal table

The top 10

NPCs A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster o ...

by number of gold medals are listed below. The host nation (Norway) is highlighted.

Participants

Thirty-one

National Paralympic Committee A National Paralympic Committee (NPC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Paralympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), NPCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the ...

s (NPCs) entered athletes at the 1994 Winter Paralympics. The number in parentheses indicates the number of participants from each NPC. * (6) * (38) * (2) * (2) * (2) * (31) * (6) * (3) * (13) * (18) * (26) * (43) * (23) * (1) * (23) * (26) * (2) * (2) * (1) * (1) * (2) * (6) * (7) * (42) * (15) * (27) * (11) * (14) * (27) * (19) * (30)

References

External links