TIGNES-ALBERTVILLE 1992 PARALYMPIC WINTER GAMES

The Games in France brought together 365 Para athletes (228 men and 77 women) from 24 countries.  They competed in 79 medal events across three sports.  USA topped the medals table.

SPORTS

Due to a lack of entries and suitable venues to hold the ice sports, only alpine and Nordic skiing (biathlon and cross-country skiing) competitions were held.

Demonstration events in alpine and Nordic skiing were held for athletes with intellectual impairments and in biathlon for those with vision impairments.

OPENING CEREMONY

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 alpine skiing events. The Paralympic flame was lit by Luc Sabatier and the athlete’s oath was taken by Ludovic Rey Robert.

MEDALS

The medals of the Tignes-Albertville 1992 Paralympic Winter Games draw inspiration from the mountains where the alpine and Nordic skiing events took place. 

Design Elements of the Medals 

The medals feature the engraving of a bird flying over mountains, along with the name of the Games in French. Each medal has a graphic of the sport event the medal was awarded in, as well as braille engravings to make the medals more accessible for people with vision impairments. The Tignes-Albertville 1992 medals featured the five Tae-Geuks symbol, which was the symbol of the Paralympic Movement at the time. 

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES

German alpine skiier Reinhild Moeller claimed four gold medals, while teammate Gerd Schoenfelder (alpine skiing) and Frank Hoefle (biathlon and cross-country skiing) each won three golds. 

The USA’s Nancy Gustafson won three gold medals in alpine skiing to help put her country atop the medal chart.

A Unified Team composed of athletes from the former Soviet Union, was led by Nikolai Ilioutchenko, who won three gold medals in cross-country skiing.