Winter Paralympic Games facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Winter Paralympic Games
One of the Paralympic cauldrons in Yanqing during the 2022 Winter Paralympics.

The Winter Paralympic Games is a major international event where amazing athletes with physical disabilities compete in snow and ice sports. These athletes may have challenges with moving, have lost a limb, have trouble seeing, or have cerebral palsy.

The Winter Paralympics happen every four years, right after the Winter Olympic Games. Since 1992, they have even taken place in the same city using the same venues. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is in charge of the Games. Just like in the Olympics, athletes win medals: gold for first place, silver for second, and bronze for third.

The first Winter Paralympics were held in 1976 in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. These Games were special because they were the first to include athletes who were not in wheelchairs. Since then, the Games have grown to become one of the largest sporting events in the world.

Norway has won the most medals at four different Winter Paralympics. Germany has been the top country three times. Russia and the United States have each finished on top twice, while Austria and China have each done it once.

The Story of the Games

An official sticker from the first Winter Paralympics in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, in 1976.

The idea for the Paralympics started with injured soldiers returning from World War II. A doctor named Ludwig Guttmann saw that sports could help them heal. In 1948, he organized sports competitions between hospitals in Great Britain. This led to the first Paralympic Games in Rome in 1960, which were held after the Summer Olympics.

The Winter Games were inspired by people like Sepp Zwicknagl, an Austrian skier who had lost both of his legs. He figured out how to ski using prosthetic (or artificial) legs. His work helped create new technology for people with disabilities who wanted to enjoy winter sports.

In 1974, the first world ski competition for athletes with physical disabilities was held. Two years later, the very first Winter Paralympics took place in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, in 1976. Athletes competed in alpine (downhill) and Nordic (cross-country) skiing. Ice sledge racing was also shown as a demonstration sport. A total of 198 athletes from 16 countries took part.

Who Can Compete?

The IPC created six groups for disabilities to make sure the competition is fair. These groups are used for both the Summer and Winter Games.

• Amputee: Athletes who are missing part or all of at least one arm or leg.
• Cerebral Palsy: Athletes whose brains have difficulty controlling their muscles, balance, or coordination.
• Intellectual Disability: Athletes with a significant disability in their thinking and learning skills.
• Wheelchair: Athletes who need a wheelchair to compete, often because of a spinal cord injury.
• Visually Impaired: Athletes who have difficulty seeing. This can range from being partially blind to completely blind.
• Les Autres: This is French for "the others." This group is for athletes whose disability doesn't fit into the other categories, like dwarfism or multiple sclerosis.

How Athletes Are Classified

Paralympian Andy Soule competes in a cross-country ski race at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Within each disability group, athletes are classified again based on how much their disability affects them in their sport. This is like having weight classes in boxing or age groups in junior sports. It helps make the competition as fair as possible.

The classification system is different for each sport because each sport requires different skills. Here is a look at how some of the Winter Paralympic sports are classified.

Alpine Skiing

Alpine skiing includes fast downhill events like slalom and giant slalom. Athletes with many different types of disabilities can compete. There are eleven classifications: seven for standing athletes, three for sitting athletes, and one for visually impaired athletes. The groups are based on how well an athlete can move and what equipment they need, like special skis or poles.

Biathlon

Biathlon combines cross-country skiing and target shooting. Athletes need to be strong and have a steady hand. There are fifteen classes for athletes with physical or visual disabilities. To make it fair, an athlete's finishing time is adjusted using a special formula based on their disability class. Visually impaired athletes can use special headphones that make a sound to help them aim at the target.

Cross-Country Skiing

Also known as Nordic skiing, this sport is open to athletes in almost all disability categories. There are fifteen different classifications, which are set up in a similar way to alpine skiing.

Para Ice Hockey

A Para ice hockey game between the United States and Japan at the 2010 Winter Paralympics.

Para ice hockey is a fast and exciting team sport for male athletes who have a disability in the lower part of their body. Athletes sit on special sleds with blades and use two sticks to push themselves across the ice and shoot the puck.

Wheelchair Curling

Wheelchair curling is a team event for both men and women. All athletes must use a wheelchair in their daily life. Players can slide the curling stone by hand or by using a special stick. There is only one classification: all players must need a wheelchair for daily movement.

Para Snowboarding

Para snowboarding became a medal event at the 2014 Winter Paralympics. Athletes compete in events like snowboard cross (a race down a course with turns and jumps) and banked slalom (a race through a curvy course). Athletes are grouped based on whether their disability affects their arms or legs.

Unfair Advantages

Most athletes compete fairly, but some have tried to cheat. This can include trying to make their disability seem worse than it is to get into a more favorable classification.

Another issue is a technique called "boosting," where athletes try to raise their blood pressure to improve their performance. This is dangerous and against the rules. The IPC works hard to catch any form of cheating to protect the athletes and the spirit of the Games.

In 2016, the IPC banned the entire Russian team from the Summer Paralympics. This was because of evidence of a widespread, state-sponsored doping program, which broke the anti-doping rules. The IPC said that the Russian government had "catastrophically failed its Para athletes."

List of Paralympic Sports

These are the sports that have been part of the Winter Paralympic Games.

All-Time Medal Table

This table shows the top 20 countries that have won the most medals at the Winter Paralympics from 1976 to 2022. Countries are ranked by the number of gold medals they have won.

No.	Nation	Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Norway (NOR)	13	140	111	86	334
2	United States (USA)	13	117	130	88	335
3	Austria (AUT)	13	109	118	116	343
4	Germany (GER)	9	109	85	81	275
5	Russia (RUS)	6	84	88	61	233
6	Finland (FIN)	13	79	51	62	192
7	France (FRA)	13	63	57	60	183
8	Canada (CAN)	13	58	52	76	186
9	Switzerland (SUI)	13	53	55	50	158
10	West Germany (FRG)	4	42	43	35	120
11	Ukraine (UKR)	7	38	51	52	141
12	Sweden (SWE)	13	28	35	44	107
13	Japan (JPN)	13	27	42	37	97
14	China (CHN)	6	19	20	23	62
15	Slovakia (SVK)	8	18	21	22	61
17	New Zealand (NZL)	12	17	7	11	35
18	Italy (ITA)	12	16	25	32	73
19	Spain (ESP)	12	15	16	12	43
20	Australia (AUS)	12	12	6	17	35

List of Winter Paralympic Games

Games	Year	Host	Opened by	Dates	National Paralympic Committees	Competitors			Sports	Events	Top Nation
						Total	Men	Women
1	1976	Örnsköldsvik, Sweden	King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden	21–28 February	16	196			2	53	West Germany (FRG)
2	1980	Geilo, Norway	King Olav V of Norway	1–7 February	18	299				63	Norway (NOR)
3	1984	Innsbruck, Austria	President Rudolf Kirchschläger	14–20 January	21	419			3	107	Austria (AUT)
4	1988	Innsbruck, Austria	President Kurt Waldheim	18–25 January	22	377			4	97	Norway (NOR)
5	1992	Tignes and Albertville, France	President François Mitterrand	25 March – 1 April	24	365	288	77	3	78	United States (USA)
6	1994	Lillehammer, Norway	Queen Sonja of Norway	10–19 March	31	471			5	133	Norway (NOR)
7	1998	Nagano, Japan	Crown Prince Naruhito	5–14 March	32	571				122	Norway (NOR)
8	2002	Salt Lake City, United States	President George W. Bush	7–16 March	36	416			4	92	Germany (GER)
9	2006	Turin, Italy	President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi	10–19 March	39	486			5	58	Russia (RUS)
10	2010	Vancouver and Whistler, Canada	Governor General Michaëlle Jean	12–21 March	44	506				64	Germany (GER)
11	2014	Sochi, Russia	President Vladimir Putin	7–16 March	45	550			6	72	Russia (RUS)
12	2018	Pyeongchang, South Korea	President Moon Jae-in	9–18 March	49	569				80	United States (USA)
13	2022	Beijing, China	President Xi Jinping	4–13 March	46	564				78	China (CHN)
14	2026	Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy		6–15 March						79
15	2030	French Alps, France		1-10 March
16	2034	Salt Lake City, United States		10–19 March

See also

In Spanish: Juegos Paralímpicos de Invierno para niños

• Summer Paralympic Games