1976 Winter Paralympics

The 1976 Winter Paralympic Games (Swedish: Paralympiska vinterspelen 1976) were the first Winter Paralympics. They were held in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, from 21 to 28 February 1976. The disabilities included in this Paralympics were blindness and amputees. Sixteen countries took part with 196 athletes.[1] There were competitions in Alpine and Nordic skiing for amputee and visually impaired athletes, and a demonstration event in ice sledge racing.[2]

I Paralympic Winter Games
LocationÖrnsköldsvik, Sweden
Nations16
Athletes196
Events53 in 2 sports
Opening21 February
Closing28 February
Opened by
StadiumKempehallen
Winter
Summer

They were originally known as the 1st Winter Olympic Games for the Disabled.[3][4]

Sports

edit

The games consisted of 2 sports.

Medal table

edit

The top 9 NPCs by number of gold medals are listed below. The host nation (Sweden) is highlighted.

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  West Germany1012628
2  Switzerland101112
3  Finland87722
4  Norway73212
5  Sweden*67720
6  Austria5161435
7  Czechoslovakia3003
8  France2035
9  Canada2024
Totals (9 entries)534642141

Participating Paralympic Committees

edit

The following nations took part. In brackets is the number of athletes per nation.[5]

Participating National Paralympic Committees

British involvement in these Games was covered in an edition of the Thames Television current affairs series This Week.[6]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Örnsköldsvik 1976 Paralympic Winter Games". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
  2. ^ "Örnsköldsvik 1976". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
  3. ^ History and Use of the Term Paralympic Archived 16 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine, International Paralympic Committee (IPC)
  4. ^ Paralympics (Swedish), biblioteket.se
  5. ^ "Participation Numbers – Örnsköldsvik 1976 Paralympic Winter Games". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
  6. ^ Daily Mirror TV listings, page 16, 26 February 1976
edit
New sporting event Winter Paralympics
Örnsköldsvik

I Paralympic Winter Games (1976)
Succeeded by