Introduction
General Overview: 2002 Paralympic Games – Salt Lake City
Streamlining organization time, cost, and effort was a big advantage for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC). With venues, accreditation, transportation and informational structures already in place for the Olympic Winter Games, the Paralympic division of SLOC only needed to adapt these existing structures a few weeks following the Olympic Closing Ceremony, to begin another nine days of competition.
On March 7 2002, Rice-Eccles Stadium was filled with more than 40,000 spectators when the Salt Lake 2002 Paralympic Winter Games officially started. The Opening Ceremony was a celebration of Paralympic sport based on the Games’ theme “Awaken the Mind – Free the Body – Inspire the Spirit.” Eric Weihenmeyer, the first blind man to successfully climb Mount Everest, carried the Paralympic torch to the podium – guided by his dog – and passed it to Muffy Davis and Chris Waddell, the best American sit-skiers, who jointly lit the Paralympic cauldron.
The Paralympic Village was home to 416 athletes from 36 nations in Salt Lake City. For Andorra, Chile, the People’s Republic of China, Croatia, Greece and Hungary, it was their debut at the Paralympic Winter Games. The German team led the medal tally with a total of 17 gold, 1 silver and 15 bronze medals, followed by the team from the United States, which won 10 gold, 22 silver and 11 bronze medals.
The sport programme consisted of three sports and four disciplines: Alpine Skiing, Ice Sledge Hockey and Nordic Skiing (Cross-Country and Biathlon). Alpine skiers, Martin Braxenthaler (GER), who won his fourth gold medal, and Michael Milton from Australia who also won gold in all four Alpine events, dominated these Games.
The German team excelled in the Biathlon events, with Verena Bentele, Josef Giesen and Wilhelm Brem winning gold in their respective classes and Frank Höfle being awarded the bronze medal in the visually impaired class. In the cross-country competitions, Norway, Russia and Germany were the most successful teams. Ragnhild Myklebust from Norway won gold in all four races of the cross-country competition in her class (LW 12) plus a gold medal in biathlon.
In ice sledge hockey, teams from the United States and from Norway played in a tough gold medal match that was tied 3:3 at the end of regulation. After the ensuing penalty shoot-out, the United States left the rink victorious.
Due to a high demand of certain events, the total number of tickets available was raised from 225,000 to 248,000. The final ticket sale was set at 211,790, representing a successful 85% sold. Such public support is still relatively new to Paralympic Games. Many remember the relatively empty stands at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta.
A total of 836 accredited media representatives reported from the Salt Lake Games for written press, photography, non-rightsholding broadcasters and more than 30 broadcasters. After months of negotiations, a live, worldwide television signal of all sports was secured.
Source: IPC Website
