ARNHEM 1980 PARALYMPIC GAMES

The Arnhem 1980 Paralympic Games served to consolidate the sports programmes of the four major impairment groups.

Their respective international sport federations were represented simultaneously in one venue for the first time ever.

These Games initiated the creation of the International Coordinating Committee (ICC), in which each federation was represented. This eventually gave way to the creation of the IPC as the governing body of the Paralympic Games by the end of the decade.

The Games saw 1,653 Para athletes (1,225 men and 428 women) from 42 countries compete in 13 sports.  

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These Games initiated the creation of the International Co-ordinating Committee (ICC), in which each federation was represented. This eventually gave way to the creation of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as the governing body of the Paralympic Games by the end of the decade.

SPORTS

Thirteen different sporting events held competitions during the Games in Arnhem, including the first appearance for sitting volleyball.

The full list of sports was; archery, Para athletics, dartchery, lawn bowls, goalball, shooting Para sport, Para swimming, table tennis, sitting volleyball, weightlifting, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing and wrestling.

OPENING CEREMONY

A crowd of 12,000 people attended the Opening Ceremony on 21 June at the Papendal Stadium. IPC Honorary Board member Princess Margriet officially opened the Games, in which 43 nations and 1,973 athletes took part.

MEDALS 

The Arnhem 1980 medals put the Games emblem at its centre, as well as the values that were emphasised during the first Paralympics in the Dutch city. 

Design Elements of the Medals 

The Arnhem 1980 Paralympic medals use the emblem of the Games, three interlocking rings that make up the numbers “80”, and the words “friendship, unity, sportsmanship”.  

The reverse face of the medal indicated the name of the sport event the medal was awarded in, engraved on the surface. 

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES

New Zealand’s Neroli Fairhall won the wheelchair women’s doubles archery competition and then went on to compete at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where she finished 35th out of 56.

The Netherlands team took the first sitting volleyball gold medal on home soil with a win over Sweden in the final.

Germany won the goalball competition, bettering the squads of 11 other nations.

In the pool, vision impaired US swimmer Trischa Zorn earned seven gold medals.

Canadian single-leg amputee Arnold Boldt won the gold medal in the high jump with a 1.96m jump, setting a new world record in the process.