Innsbruck 1988
Winter Paralympics hosted by Innsbruck for the second consecutive Games
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The fourth Winter Paralympic Games were held in Innsbruck, Austria for the second time in four years and turned out to be the last Winter Paralympics to be held in a separate location from the Winter Olympics.
Originally the 1988 Winter Paralympics were set to be held in Calgary, the same venue as the 1988 Winter Olympics. Due to financial and recruiting difficulties these plans never materialised so the Games returned to Innsbruck.
The 1988 Winter Paralympic Games saw the USSR compete for the first time while sit-skiing was introduced as a new event in both the Alpine and Nordic skiing competitions. Other new parasports to be introduced to the Winter Paralympic Games in Innsbruck were biathlon and ice-sledge speed racing.
Norway topped the medal table by taking 60 medals, 25 of which were gold ahead of hosts Austria while West Germany claimed third place on the overall medal table.
Date Games were held: January 13-21
Number of nations represented: 22
Number of competitors: 397
Number of medals awarded: 297
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