Nagano 1998
Winter Paralympics head to Asia for the first time
In 1998, the Seventh Winter Paralympics were staged in Nagano, Japan visiting Asia for the first time in their history. In fact it was the first time that the Winter Paralympics had been staged outside of Europe. The Games were officially opened by Crown Prince Naruhito at the 10,000 capacity M-Wave Stadium.
The Games consisted of 34 events in four parasports: alpine skiing, ice-sledge hockey, ice-sledge racing, and Nordic skiing (the parasport of Nordic skiing comprised two disciplines: biathlon and cross-country skiing).
Norway claimed 40 medals, 18 of which were gold and finished top of the medals table. Germany finished the Games in second place while the USA took the third in an exact repeat of the top three at the Lillehammer Games fours years earlier.
Date Games were held: March 5 - 14
Number of nations represented: 32
Number of competitors: 571
Number of medals awarded: 367
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