2002 Winter Paralympics

VIII Paralympic Winter Games
Host city Salt Lake City, Utah
Nations participating 36
Athletes participating 416
Events 5 sports
Opening ceremony March 7
Closing ceremony March 16
Officially opened by President George W. Bush
Paralympic Torch Muffy Davis and Chris Waddell
Stadium Rice-Eccles Stadium
Winter:
 < Nagano 1998 Turin 2006 > 
Summer:
 < Sydney 2000 Athens 2004 > 

The 2002 Winter Paralympics, the eighth Winter Paralympics, were held in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, from March 7 to March 16, 2002. A total of 416 athletes from 36 nations participated. These were the first Paralympic Winter Games for Andorra, Chile, the People’s Republic of China, Croatia, Greece, and Hungary. Ragnhild Myklebust of Norway won five gold medals in skiing and biathlon, becoming the most successful Winter Paralympic athlete of all times with 22 medals, 17 of them gold.[1]

Contents

Sports

The games consisted of four disciplines in three sports.[2]

Medal table

Main article: 2002 Winter Paralympics medal table

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

Rank Country             Total
1 Germany 17 1 15 33
2 United States 10 22 11 43
3 Norway 10 3 6 19
4 Austria 9 10 10 29
5 Russia 7 9 5 21
6 Canada 6 4 5 15
7 Switzerland 6 4 2 12
8 Australia 6 1 0 7
9 Finland 4 1 3 8
10 New Zealand 4 0 2 6

Symbol and mascot of the games

The logo of the Salt Lake 2002 Paralympic Winter Games is made up of three distinct marks. The sphere on the top represents the head of the Paralympic athlete and also symbolizes the global unity of the Paralympic Movement. Two broad fluid lines represent the athlete in motion. The three taegeuks beneath the athlete reproduce the green, red and blue marks on the Paralympic Flag.

The mascot for the Paralympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City 2002 was Otto the otter. Ancient Indian tribes considered the otter to be one of the most powerful of all animals. After being nearly wiped out by pollution and overtrapping the river otter has been reintroduced to Utah and can be seen along the banks of the Green River and near Flaming Gorge. The otter was chosen as the official mascot of the Salt Lake 2002 Paralympic Winter Games because he embodies vitality and agility, and represents the spirit of every Paralympian.

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ "Possibilité de médaille d’or : Vancouver 2010 annonce la recherche d’un concepteur pour les médailles olympiques et paralympiques", official website of the 2010 Vancouver Games, December 13, 2007
  2. ^ "Salt Lake 2002 - General Information". International Paralympic Committee. 2008. http://www.paralympic.org/Paralympic_Games/Past_Games/Salt_Lake_City_2002/. Retrieved 2011-07-12. 
Summer Games
Winter Games