Tignes-Albertville 1992

The Games in France brought together 365 Para athletes from 24 delegations. They competed in 79 medal events across three sports.

USA topped the medals table for the first time in Paralympic Winter Games history.

The Games were officially opened on 25 March by French President Francois Mitterand. The Opening Ceremony was held in front of the finish area for the Para alpine skiing events. The Paralympic flame was lit by Luc Sabatier and the athlete's oath was taken by Ludovic Rey Robert.

COMPETING NATIONS AND ATHLETES

The Games brought together 365 Para athletes (288 men and 77 women) from 24 countries.

Estonia, Liechtenstein, and South Korea made their Paralympic Winter Games debuts. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, Tignes Albertville was the first Games to feature a reunified German team. A Unified Team featured Para athletes from the former Soviet Union.

Germany (36) had the biggest delegation, followed by host France and Austria who had 31 Para athletes apiece.

Austria (9) had the most female Para athletes followed by Italy and USA who both had eight.

SPORTS

Due to a lack of entries and suitable venues to hold the ice sports, events were only held in three sports: Para alpine skiing, Para biathlon and Para cross-country skiing.

Demonstration events in alpine and cross-country skiing were held for athletes with intellectual impairments and in Para biathlon for those with vision impairments.

Para alpine skiing featured 48 medal events which were contested by 212 Para athletes from 23 countries. The events included downhill, slalom, giant slalom and, for the first time at a Paralympic Winter Games, Super-G.

The four medal events in Para biathlon involved 45 Para athletes from 12 countries while the 27 medal events in Para cross-country skiing brought together 150 Para athletes from 18 countries.

©Handikappidrott

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES

Germany's Reinhild Moeller topped the podium in all four of her Para alpine skiing events to finish the Games as the most decorated Para athlete.

Her compatriots Frank Hoefle (three gold and one silver) and Gerd Schoenfelder (three golds) also excelled in Nordic skiing events and Para alpine skiing respectively.

Three Para alpine skiers from the USA – Nancy Gustafson (three golds), David Kiley (two gold and two silver) and Greg Mannino (two gold and two silver) – also enjoyed great Games.

Results

Nineteen of the 24 competing delegations won at least one medal.

USA topped the overall medals table for the first time at the Paralympic Winter Games winning 20 gold, 16 silver and nine bronze medals. Germany and the Unified Team finished second and third respectively.

USA topped the medals table in Para alpine skiing, Finland in Para biathlon and the Unified Team in Para cross-country skiing.

Country

Gold

Silver

Bronze

USA

GER

EUN

AUT

FIN

Medals

The medals of the Tignes-Albertville 1992 Paralympic Games were crafted from a uniform metal and accompanied by a blue and white ribbon.

The face of the medal was personalised, with an illustration of the respective sport it was being awarded for. Furthermore, it included the name of the Games and the Sport in French and was made accessible using braille.

The back of the medal featured a soaring bird above a mountain landscape, representing the Games’ emblem and inspired by its event location. It also featured the name of the Games’ in French as well as the five Tae-Geuks which symbolised the Paralympic logo at the time.

Mascot

Tignes-Albertville marks one of the first games to have a recognized mascot. In this case, Alpy, the mountain mascot inspired by the Grande Motte, a mountain from Massif de la Vanoise in Tignes graced the Paralympic audience.

Alpy takes to the slopes on a mono ski, a piece of equipment used by some Paralympic winter athletes. Alpy’s color scheme of white, green and blue signify purity, hope and nature respectively. The mascot was designed by Vincent Thiebaut and cheerfully welcomed athletes to the Games in 1992.

Torch

The torch of Tignes-Albertville reflects the traditional design of a torch. With an outstretched handle, and a rounded cross hatched head where the fire protrudes. It travelled on a torch relay reaching the Paralympic Alpine Skiing event location on March 25. The Cauldron was lit by Luc Sabatier to commence the Opening Ceremony on the same day.