1996 Summer Paralympics
The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, United States were held from August 16 to 25. It was the first Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship,[1] and had a budget of USD $81 million.[2]
Host city | Atlanta, Georgia, United States |
---|---|
Motto | The Triumph of the Human Spirit |
Nations | 104 |
Athletes | 3,259 (2,469 men, 790 women) |
Events | 508 in 20 sports |
Opening | August 16 |
Closing | August 25 |
Opened by | |
Cauldron | |
Stadium | Centennial Olympic Stadium |
Summer
Winter
1996 Summer Olympics |
Part of a series on |
It was the first Paralympic Games where International Sports Federation for Persons with an Intellectual Disability athletes were given full medal status.[3]
Symbol and mascot of the games
The mascot for the Paralympic Summer Games in Atlanta 1996 was Blaze. Blaze was created by Trevor Stone Irvin of Irvin Productions in Atlanta.
Blaze is a phoenix, a mythical bird that rises from ashes to experience a renewed life. The phoenix appears in Greco-Roman, Egyptian, Arabian, Chinese, Russian and Native American folklore and in all instances symbolizes strength, vision, inspiration and survival. The phoenix was an ideal mascot for the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games and later for BlazeSports America, a nonprofit organization that is the direct legacy of the Games. The phoenix has long been the symbol of Atlanta's rebirth after its devastation in the American Civil War. But most importantly, it is the personification of the will, perseverance and determination of youth and adults with physical disability to achieve full and productive lives. Blaze, with his bright colors, height and broad wing span, reflects the traits, identified in a focus group of athletes with disability, as those they believed best represented the drive to succeed of persons with physical disability who pursue sports as recreation and as a competitive endeavor. Today, Blaze is the most recognizable symbol of disability sport in America.
Sports
The games consisted of 508 events spread over twenty sports, including three demonstration sports.[1]
- Archery
- Athletics
- Boccia
- Cycling
- Equestrian
- Football 7-a-side
- Goalball
- Judo
- Lawn bowls
- Powerlifting
- Racquetball
- Sailing (demonstration sport, but medals awarded)
- Shooting
- Swimming
- Table tennis
- Volleyball
- Wheelchair basketball
- Wheelchair fencing
- Wheelchair rugby (demonstration sport, but medals awarded)
- Wheelchair tennis
Venues
In total 11 venues were used at the 1996 Summer Olympics and five new venues were used at the Games in Atlanta.[4]
Olympic Ring
- Centennial Olympic Stadium – opening/closing ceremonies, athletics
- Alexander Memorial Coliseum – standing volleyball
- Georgia Tech Aquatic Center – swimming
Metro Atlanta
- Henderson Arena – judo and wheelchair rugby
- Panther Stadium – lawn bowls and 7-side-football
- Woodruff P.E. Center – boccia
- GSU Sports Arena – goalball
- Marriott Marquis – powerlifting
- Sheffield Building – wheelchair fencing
- Forbes Arena and Omni Coliseum – wheelchair basketball
- Clayton State Arena – sitting volleyball
Another Venues
- Lake Lanier – yachting
- Georgia International Horse Park – equestrian
- Georgia World Congress Center – table tennis
- Stone Mountain Park – archery, wheelchair tennis and cycling
- Wolf Creek Shooting Complex – shooting
Calendar
In the following calendar for the 1996 Summer Paralympics, each blue box represents an event competition. The yellow boxes represent days during which medal-awarding finals for a sport are held. The number in each yellow box represents the number of finals that are contested on that day.[5]
● | Opening ceremony | Event competitions | Event finals | ● | Closing ceremony | ||
August | Tue 15th | Fri 16th | Sat 17th | Sun 18th | Mon 19th | Thu 20th | Wed 21st | Tue 22nd | Fri 23rd | Sat 24th | Sun 25th | Gold Medals |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ceremonies | OC | CC | N/A | |||||||||
Archery | ● | ● | ● | 5 | 3 | 8 | ||||||
Athletics | 16 | 25 | 28 | 26 | 24 | 18 | 25 | 29 | 20 | 211 | ||
Boccia | ● | ● | ● | ● | 5 | 5 | ||||||
Cycling Track | 3 | 6 | 2 | 11 | ||||||||
Cycling Road | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 | ||||||||
Equestrian | 4 | 5 | 9 | |||||||||
Football 7-a-side | ● | ● | ● | ● | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Goalball | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 2 | 2 | ||||
Judo | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | ||||||||
Lawn Bowls | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 4 | 4 | 8 | ||||
Powerlifting | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||||||
Sailing | ● | ● | ● | ● | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Shooting | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 15 | ||||
Sitting volleyball | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 1 | 1 | |||
Standing volleyball | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 1 | 1 | ||||
Swimming | 18 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 19 | 19 | 15 | 28 | 21 | 168 | ||
Wheelchair basketball | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Wheelchair rugby | ● | ● | ● | 1 | 1 | |||||||
Wheelchair tennis | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
Total | 0 | 2 | 39 | 54 | 47 | 50 | 56 | 61 | 54 | 66 | 45 | 517 |
Medal count
A total of 1574 medals were awarded during the Atlanta games: 517 gold, 516 silver, and 541 bronze. The host country, the United States, topped the medal count with more gold medals, more bronze medals, and more medals overall than any other nation. Germany took the most silver medals, with 58.[6]
In the table below, the ranking sorts by the number of gold medals earned by the top ten nations (in this context a nation is an entity represented by a National Paralympic Committee). The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals.
Host country (United States)
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | United States (USA)* | 46 | 46 | 65 | 157 |
2 | Australia (AUS) | 42 | 37 | 27 | 106 |
3 | Germany (GER) | 40 | 58 | 51 | 149 |
4 | Great Britain (GBR) | 39 | 42 | 41 | 122 |
5 | Spain (ESP) | 39 | 31 | 36 | 106 |
6 | France (FRA) | 35 | 29 | 31 | 95 |
7 | Canada (CAN) | 24 | 21 | 24 | 69 |
8 | Netherlands (NED) | 17 | 11 | 17 | 45 |
9 | China (CHN) | 16 | 13 | 10 | 39 |
10 | Japan (JPN) | 14 | 10 | 13 | 37 |
Totals (10 nations) | 312 | 298 | 315 | 925 |
Participating delegations
A total of 100 nations were represented at the 1996 Games, and the combined total of athletes was about 3,260.
Gallery
- Wheelchair tennis
- Welcome home parade
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1996 Summer Paralympics. |
- 1996 Summer Olympics
- BlazeSports America, the legacy organization of the 1996 Paralympic Games
References
- "Atlanta 1996 Paralympic Games". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
- Ian Brittain (2009). The Paralympic Games Explained. Taylor & Francis. p. 83. ISBN 0-415-47658-5.
- Robert Daniel Steadward; Elizabeth Jane Watkinson; Garry David Wheeler (2003). Adapted physical activity. University of Alberta. p. 577. ISBN 0-88864-375-6.
- "Tickets". Atlanta Paralympics Organizing Committee. 1996. Archived from the original on February 6, 1997. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
- "Atlanta 1996 Summer Paralympics Results". Atlanta 1996 Summer Paralympics Official Website. Archived from the original on December 17, 1996. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
- "Medal Standings – Atlanta 1996 Paralympic Games". International Paralympic Committee. 2008. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
External links
- International Paralympic Committee
- Official site at the Wayback Machine (archived May 7, 2009)