Winter Paralympic Games Firsts

Some interesting facts and figures from the Winter Paralympic Games.

The FIRST Paralympic Winter Games took place in Örnsköldsvik in Sweden in 1976. The event was called the First Winter Olympic Games for the Disabled.
The FIRST African athlete to compete at the Paralympic Winter Games was Ugandan Tofiri Kibuuka in cross-country skiing in Ornskoldsvik in 1976.
The FIRST Latin American country to debut at a Winter Paralympics was Chile, Para alpine skiers Patricio Morande and Tomas del Villar competed at Salt Lake City 2002.
The FIRST woman to compete in para ice hockey (a mixed sport) was Norway's Britt Mjaasund Øyen in 1994. At PyeongChang 2018, fellow Norwegian Lena Schrøder became the second female to compete in the sport.
The FIRST Winter Paralympics Games to use the same facilities as the Winter Olympics was in 1992.
The FIRST Winter Paralympian to test positive for steroids was German skier Thomas Oelsner in 2002. He was stripped of his two gold medals.
The FIRST city to host both the Winter and Summer Paralympics was Beijing (2008 & 2022).

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