VII Paralympic Winter Games

Host city	Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan
Motto	Fureai and Inspiration (Japanese: ふれあいと感)
Nations	32
Athletes	571
Events	122 in 4 sports
Opening	5 March
Closing	14 March
Opened by	Crown Prince Naruhito
Cauldron	Naoya Maruyama
Stadium	M-Wave
Winter ← Lillehammer 1994 Salt Lake 2002 → Summer ← Atlanta 1996 Sydney 2000 → 1998 Winter Olympics

The 1998 Winter Paralympics (Japanese: 1998年冬季パラリンピック, Hepburn: 1998-Nen Tōki Pararinpikku), the seventh Paralympic Winter Games, were held alongside the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan from 5 to 14 March 1998. They were the first Paralympic Winter Games to be held outside Europe. 571 athletes competed in Nagano; as 2022 it remains the highest number of athletes competing at any Winter Paralympics.^[1]

Sports

The games consisted of 122 events in five sports: alpine skiing, ice sledge hockey, ice sledge racing, and Nordic skiing. The sport of Nordic skiing comprised two disciplines, the biathlon and cross-country skiing.^[2][3]

• Alpine skiing
• Sledge hockey
• Ice sledge racing
• Nordic skiing
  • Biathlon
  • Cross-country skiing

Venues

In total seven venues were used at the 1998 Winter Olympics around four cities and towns.^[4]

Nagano City

• M-Wave – opening/closing ceremonies, ice sledge racing
• Aqua Wing Arena – ice sledge hockey

Hakuba

• Happo'one Resort: Alpine skiing (Downhill and Super-G)
• Snow Harp, Kamishiro: Cross-country skiing

Nozawaonsen

• Nozawa Onsen Ski Resort: Biathlon

Yamanouchi

• Mount Higashidate: Alpine skiing (giant slalom)
• Mount Yakebitai, Shiga Kogen Resort: Alpine skiing (slalom)

Medal table

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

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Norway	18	9	13	40
2	Germany	14	17	13	44
3	United States	13	8	13	34
4	Japan*	12	16	13	41
5	Russia	12	10	9	31
6	Switzerland	10	5	8	23
7	Spain	8	0	0	8
8	Austria	7	16	11	34
9	Finland	7	5	7	19
10	France	5	9	8	22
Totals (10 entries)		106	95	95	296

Participants

Thirty-one National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) entered athletes at the 1998 Winter Paralympics. The number in parentheses indicates the number of participants from each NPC.^[5]

Mascot

Parabbit
Mascot of the 1998 Winter Paralympics (Nagano)

The 1998 Winter Paralympics Mascot was Parabbit. Parabbit is a white rabbit with one green and one red ear. Parabbit was chosen to compliment the logo of the 1998 winter Paralympics. A vote held by students to decide on the name, resulted in Parabbit getting 3,408 votes.^[6]

Opening ceremony

The theme of the Opening Ceremony was Hope, and inspired by a painting by George Frederic Watts. The theme also signifies it was the first Winter Paralympics held in Asia and the last Paralympics of the 20th century.^[3]