2002 Winter Paralympics

VIII Paralympic Winter Games
Host city Salt Lake City, Utah
Motto Mind, Body, Spirit
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
Paralympic 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 16, 2002. A total of 416 athletes from 36 nations participated. They were the first Winter Paralympics in the American continent. 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]

Sports

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

Venues

In total 5 venues were used at the 2002 Winter Olympics around 4 cities and towns.[3]

Salt Lake City

Weber County, Utah

Wasatch County, Utah

West Valley City, Utah


Medal table

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

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze 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.

Mascot Otto the otter

The mascot for the Paralympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City 2002 was Otto the otter. Indigenous peoples of the Americas consider otters to be fast swimmers, though in some stories a bit of a show-off. [4] 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

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. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Schedule". Archived from the original on December 11, 2004. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  4. ↑ Erdoes, Richard and Ortiz, Alfonso. American Indian Myths and Legends. p. 312 >
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