1988 Winter Paralympics

The 1988 Winter Paralympic Games (Paralympische Winterspiele 1988) were the fourth Winter Paralympics, held again in Innsbruck, Austria. These were the last Winter Paralympics to be held in a separate location from the Winter Olympics. Beginning in 1992, the Olympics and the Paralympics were held in the same city or in an adjacent city. These Paralympics were not held at the same Olympic venue in Calgary, Canada, because of financial and recruiting difficulties. A total of 377 athletes from 22 countries took part. The USSR competed for the first and only time. Sit-skiing was introduced as another event in both the Alpine and Nordic skiing competitions. Other sports were biathlon and ice sledge speed racing. Ice sledge speed racer Knut Lundstroem from Norway was the most successful athlete, winning four gold medals in the 100m, 500m, 1000m and 1500m events.

Sports

 * Alpine skiing - Paralympic pictogram.svg Alpine skiing
 * Ice sledge speed racing - Paralympic pictogram.svg Ice sledge speed racing
 * Nordic skiing
 * Biathlon - Paralympic pictogram.svg Biathlon
 * Cross-country skiing - Paralympic pictogram.svg Cross-country skiing

Medal table


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

Participating nations
Twenty two nations participated in the 1988 Winter Paralympics. Soviet Union made their debut appearance at the Winter Games.


 * (Host nation)
 * (Host nation)