The , the seventh

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 alongside 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 ...

in Nagano, Japan from 5 to 14 March 1998. They were the first Paralympic Winter Games to be held outside

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. 571 athletes competed in Nagano; as

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

it remains the highest number of athletes competing at any

Winter Paralympics 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. The ...

Sports

The games consisted of 122 events in five sports:

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 ...

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 rehabilitat ...

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 ...

, and

Nordic skiing Nordic skiing encompasses the various types of skiing in which the toe of the ski boot is fixed to the binding in a manner that allows the heel to rise off the ski, unlike alpine skiing, where the boot is attached to the ski from toe to heel. ...

. The sport of Nordic skiing comprised two disciplines, the

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 time ...

and

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 recreatio ...

. *

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 ...

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 time ...

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 recreatio ...

Venues

In total seven venues were used at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in th ...

around four cities and towns.

Nagano

M-Wave , or , is a covered speed skating oval in the city of Nagano, Japan. M-Wave, which opened in November, 1996, was constructed for the speed skating events at the 1998 Winter Olympics. It was Japan's first International Skating Union (ISU) stan ...

– opening/closing ceremonies, ice sledge racing *

Aqua Wing Arena Aqua Wing Arena is an indoor aquatics arena in Nagano, Japan. The arena is located in the ''Yoshida'' area of the city of Nagano, in , 5 km northeast of Nagano Station. The closest station is Asahi Station on the Nagano Electric Railway, a distan ...

– ice sledge hockey

Hakuba is a village located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 9,007 in 4267 households, and a population density of 48 persons per km2. The total area of the village is . Hakuba is an internationally renowned s ...

* Happo'one Resort: Alpine skiing (Downhill and Super-G) *

Snow Harp Snow Harp is a cross-country skiing venue located in Hakuba, Nagano, Japan. For the 1998 Winter Olympics, the venue hosted the cross-country skiing and the cross-country skiing portion of the Nordic combined Nordic combined is a winter sport ...

, Kamishiro: Cross-country skiing

Nozawaonsen is a village located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 3,653 in 1395 households and a population density of 63 persons per km². The total area of the village is . Geography Nozawaonsen is located in m ...

* Nozawa Onsen Ski Resort: Biathlon

Yamanouchi

Mount Higashidate is a mountain in Japan located in Yamanouchi, Nagano. For the 1998 Winter Olympics, it hosted the alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike oth ...

: Alpine skiing (giant slalom) *

Mount Yakebitai is a mountain located in Yamanouchi, Nagano, Japan. For the 1998 Winter Olympics, it hosted the alpine skiing slalom and snowboarding giant slalom events. During the 1998 games, the mountain suffered a mild earthquake that registered 5.0 on th ...

, Shiga Kogen Resort: Alpine skiing (slalom)

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 ...

by number of gold medals are listed below. The host nation (Japan) 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 1998 Winter Paralympics. The number in parentheses indicates the number of participants from each NPC. * (8) * (4) * (34) * (5) * (3) * (33) * (6) * (3) * (15) * (21) * (25) * (40) * (21) * (2) * (21) * (67) * (1) * (4) * (3) * (5) * (43) * (26) * (35) * (18) * (1) * (1) * (14) * (24) * (19) * (11) * (49)

Mascot

The 1998 Winter Paralympics Mascot was Parabbit.

Opening Ceremony

The theme of the Opening Ceremony was ''Hope'', and inspired by a

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and a ...

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.

References

External links

International Paralympic Committee

The event at SVT's open archive

The event at Nagano Shinano Mainich Shimbum
{{Paralympic Games

Paralympics The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...

Winter Paralympic Games Sport in Nagano (city) Multi-sport events in Japan March 1998 sports events in Asia Winter sports competitions in Japan