1984 Summer Paralympics

In the opening ceremonies, patchy showers greeted the 14000 spectators packed into the Mitchel Park stadium for the 2pm start of the New York Games opening ceremony on 19 June.[4] New York radio personality William B. Williams introduced everyone with a welcome speech.[4] Entertainers such as Bill Buzzeo and the Dixie Ramblers, Richie Havens, The New Image Drum and Bugle Corps, the ARC Gospel Chorus and the Square Dance Extravaganza followed the introduction speech.[4] At the closing ceremonies, Commander Archie Cameron, President of ICC officially closed the games with a short speech acknowledging the athletes and the next host city, Seoul, South Korea and was to be held in a conjunction with the 1988 Summer Olympics. The flag of the Games was lowered and American athletes carried the flag back to the honor stand where they handed over to the President of the Organizing Committee, Dr William T. Callahan and Cameron.[4]

Dan D. Lion
Mascot of the 1984 Summer Paralympics (New York)
Creator	Maryanne McGrath Higgins
Significance	A lion

The mascot for the 1984 Paralympic Games was Dan D. Lion, which was designed by an art teacher Maryanne McGrath Higgins.[5]

Competitors were divided into five disability-specific categories: amputee, cerebral palsy, visually impaired, wheelchair, and les autres (athletes with physical disabilities that had not been eligible to compete in previous Games). The wheelchair category was for those competitors who used a wheelchair due to a spinal cord disability. However some athletes in the amputee and cerebral palsy categories also competed in wheelchairs. Within the sport of athletics, a wheelchair marathon event was held for the first time. The trials for the two wheelchair events to be held at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games was held in conjunction with the New York Games. However, despite the long and established history of using "paralympic" terminology, in the United States the US Olympic Committee prohibited the Games organizers from using the term. The seventeen contested sports are listed below, along with the disability categories which competed in each.[6]

• Archery – Cerebral palsy, wheelchair, and les autres
• Athletics – All
• Boccia – Cerebral palsy
• Cycling – Cerebral palsy
• Equestrian – Cerebral palsy
• Football 7-a-side – Cerebral palsy
• Goalball – Visually impaired
• Lawn bowls – Amputee and wheelchair
• Lifting – Amputee, cerebral palsy, wheelchair, and les autres
  • Powerlifting
  • Weightlifting
• Shooting – Amputee, cerebral palsy, wheelchair, and les autres
• Snooker – Wheelchair
• Swimming – All
• Table tennis – Amputee, cerebral palsy, wheelchair, and les autres
• Volleyball – Amputee and les autres
• Wheelchair basketball – Wheelchair and les autres
• Wheelchair fencing – Wheelchair
• Wrestling – Visually impaired

The host nations, Great Britain and the United States, are highlighted. Bahrain, China, Jordan, Trinidad and Tobago won their first ever medals, with Luxembourg winning a first ever gold.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States*	137	131	129	397
2	Great Britain*	107	112	112	331
3	Canada	87	82	69	238
4	Sweden	83	43	34	160
5	West Germany	81	76	75	232
6	France	71	69	46	186
7	Netherlands	55	52	28	135
8	Australia	49	54	51	154
9	Poland	46	39	21	106
10	Norway	30	30	30	90
11	Denmark	30	13	16	59
12	Spain	22	10	12	44
13	Belgium	21	23	14	58
14	Ireland	20	15	31	66
15	Finland	18	14	27	59
16	Switzerland	18	13	12	43
17	Austria	14	20	10	44
18	Hungary	12	13	3	28
19	Israel	11	21	12	44
20	Yugoslavia	11	10	11	32
21	Italy	9	19	14	42
22	Japan	9	7	8	24
23	New Zealand	8	10	7	25
24	Brazil	7	17	4	28
25	Mexico	6	14	17	37
26	Portugal	4	3	7	14
27	Hong Kong	3	5	9	17
28	China	2	12	8	22
29	Trinidad and Tobago	2	0	1	3
30	Luxembourg	1	4	1	6
31	Kuwait	1	3	4	8
32	Burma	1	2	1	4
33	Egypt	1	1	5	7
34	Kenya	1	1	1	3
35	East Germany	0	3	1	4
36	Iceland	0	2	8	10
37	India	0	2	2	4
	South Korea	0	2	2	4
39	Jordan	0	1	2	3
	Zimbabwe	0	1	2	3
41	Bahamas	0	1	1	2
	Indonesia	0	1	1	2
43	Bahrain	0	0	2	2
Totals (43 entries)		978	951	851	2780

Fifty-four delegations took part in the 1984 Paralympics. Bahrain, China, East Germany, Faroe Islands, Jordan, Liechtenstein, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela made their first appearances, India and Portugal returned to the Games after a 12-year absence.[7]

Odeda Rosenthal, a professor of humanities at a local community college on Long Island and translator for the Austrian team highlighted a number of problems at the games in a series of articles.[4] She highlighted a number of issues such as poor communication, administrative hiccups and even bus drivers not knowing the routes to scheduled events that even caused some teams to miss events completely.[4] Rosenthal continues by slamming the work by the Police Chief claiming the Chief "took the opposite tack of anything that was suggested to sort out the mess".[4] However, overall reports and the general impression given off by the games was a friendly atmosphere and volunteers trying their hardest under difficult conditions.[4]

• 1984 Summer Olympics
• 1984 Winter Olympics
• 1984 Winter Paralympics

• International Paralympic Committee