1992 Summer Paralympics
The 1992 Summer Paralympics were the ninth Paralympic Games to be held. They were held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. In addition, the 1992 Paralympic Games for Persons with mental handicap were held immediately after the regular Paralympics in the Spanish capital, Madrid.
Host city selection
Barcelona is the second-largest city in Spain and the capital of the autonomous community of Catalonia, and the hometown of then-IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch and the famous European club, FC Barcelona that from the beginning of the candidacy provided support and financially helped the project. The city was also a host for the 1982 FIFA World Cup with two venues who were also used during the games. On 17 October 1986, Barcelona was selected to host the 1992 Summer Olympics over Amsterdam, Netherlands; Belgrade, Yugoslavia; Birmingham, United Kingdom; Brisbane, Australia; and Paris, France, during the 91st IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland. With 85 out of 89 members of the IOC voting by secret ballot, Barcelona won a majority of 47 votes. Samaranch abstained from voting. In the same IOC meeting, Albertville, France, won the right to host the 1992 Winter Games. Paris and Brisbane would eventually be selected to host the 2024 and 2032 Summer Paralympics respectively.Barcelona had previously bid for the 1936 Summer Olympics that were ultimately held in Berlin.
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| Barcelona |  SpainThe innovative measuresIn April 1987, Barcelona accepted the difficult matter to host of the 1992 Summer Paralympics.This challenge was impacted by the fact that the organizers did not differentiate between the two events and organized them in a unique way, providing the same conditions for Olympic and Paralympic athletes. And this decision also encompassed a unified visual identity, the same marketing program and actions, the use of the same competition venues with some small differences and accommodation in the same village with the use of the same services and facilities, giving to them the same opportunities. This same conditions led to innovative forms of equality and equalization and which involved for the first time the implementation of an educational program at the Paralympics and which was managed in the same way as the Olympics resulting in a bigger population engagement programs. While COOB'92 was linked to the IOC for ticket sales, the ICC was not interested in this and the public can follow the Games on site practically for free. Since only tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies were sold out within minutes. It is noteworthy that this decision mediated again by Juan Antonio Samaranch became a catalyst for the International Paralympic Movement, because both athletes and future organizers would from now on have a standard of excellence to be demanded and fulfilled. The idea of unifying the organization of the two events under the auspices of the same people was so impactful that for the only time in history the Greek Olympic Committee in a mesure of approximation authorized the use of the Olympic fire during the Paralympic Games.Despite these innovative issues, the Barcelona organizers had serious financial problems. which could not be covered by the Spanish government. Thus, other alternatives were considered such as the extension of existing sponsorships and the signing of new and specific ones. As the financial amounts were not covered, some other partners appeared who were crucial to the success of the Games, civil society organizations such as Spain's National Organization for the Blind which until 1993 was one of the owners of the country's main private television channel, Telecinco, which created a lottery system that was also used as a form of population engagement as they also purchased 50% of the COOB'92 Paralympic department.The city still managed to receive some additional public funds, and had the support of the ONCE Foundation who helped the Paralympic division of the COOB'92 to turn a joint venture with also helped to organize and also added funds of its own, buying a minority stake and also acting as a manager of personnel and resources to be applied. ONCE's proposal perfectly fit the needs of COOB '92. And it included the idea that the Paralympic division could become a joint venture between the two interested parties. Thus, with a big political power, ONCE was predisposed to help the Paralympic division to seek new financial resources to cover the missing amounts. After the Games in Catalonia, ONCE and COOB '92 also helped to organize the Paralympic Games for the Mentally Disabled, which were held in Madrid following the closing ceremonies in Barcelona. Despite what had been agreed in 1989, in which Barcelona and Madrid would be the last Paralympics organized by the International Coordination Committee and that from the Winter Games of 1994 onwards, the powers to organize the Paralympic Games would belong to the International Paralympic Committee. SportsThe games consisted of 560 events spread over fifteen sports. Powerlifting and weightlifting were considered to be a single sport. Wheelchair tennis, a demonstration sport at the 1988 Summer Paralympics, was contested as an official medal sport for the first time. This was the first time that lawn bowls and snooker were dropped from the Summer Paralympic Games program.
VenuesIn total 11 venues were used at the 1992 Summer Olympics and one new one was used at the Games in Barcelona.Montjuic
Parc del Mar
Vall d'HebronIn the north of the city, the Horta-Guinardó District, hosted three sports:
Other Venues
Madrid
Medal countA total of 1710 medals were awarded during the 1992 games: 555 gold, 557 silver, and 594 bronze. The United States topped the medal count with more gold medals, more silver medals, and more medals overall than any other nation. Germany took the most bronze medals, with 59. The Madrid medals are counted too and added in the tableIn the table below, the ranking sorts by the number of gold medals earned by a nation. Source: CalendarIn the following calendar for the Barcelona 1992 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.
Participating delegations103 delegations participated at the 1992 Summer Paralympics.South Africa returned to the Paralympics for the first time since being declared "undesirable" due to its policy of apartheid in 1980. Countries who made their first appearances in the Barcelona Games were Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chile, Chinese Taipei, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Iraq, Myanmar, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Seychelles, Tanzania, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay and Yemen. Germany competed as a reunified country for the first time in the Summer Paralympics after the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Latvia and Lithuania competed as independent countries for the first time due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, while Croatia and Slovenia did the same due to the dissolution of Yugoslavia. The remainder of Yugoslavia competed as Independent Paralympic Participants due to sanctions. Some former Soviet republics competed as a Unified Team, all of whom would compete independently by the 1996 Games. Twenty-one countries did not send a delegation to Barcelona, but sent one to Madrid; they were: Aruba, Bolivia, Côte d'Ivoire, Curaçao, El Salvador, Fiji, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Philippines, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Suriname and Zimbabwe. * MascotThe official mascot was Petra, an armless girl designed by Javier Mariscal.Paralympic Games for Persons with mental handicapThe first Paralympic Games for Persons with mental handicap were held immediately after the regular Paralympic games in the Spanish capital of Madrid from 15 to 22 September. Over 1,400 athletes from 74 nations participated in the event, which was sponsored by the Associacion Nacional de Prestura de Servicios and sanctioned by the International Coordinating Committee of World Sport Organizations for the Disabled and the International Association of Sport for the Mentally Handicapped. As the event in Barcelona, the games also featured a cultural exchange group, a group of intellectually disabled men from Nagasaki who played taiko during the opening and closing ceremonies and selected events. |