1984 Summer Paralympics

Organization

World Wheelchair Games

Since the 1960 inception of the international event that retroactively became known as the Paralympic Games, the organizers had held the event in the same country as the Summer Olympics every four years, except when they were prevented from doing so by the national government (Mexico in 1968 and the Soviet Union in 1980). With the selection of the United States as the host of the 1984 Summer Olympics, it was expected that the U.S. would also host the Paralympics, but the two events were not officially connected at the time.

The National Wheelchair Athletic Association (NWAA) was responsible for finding an institution in the United States that would host and financially sponsor the Paralympic Games. By June 1981, the choice of a host institution had been narrowed to three finalists: the Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood, California, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Washington in Seattle. Another proposal was made by the University of Texas at Arlington, but this was dropped due to a lack of clarity about the source of funding for the Games. In December, the University of Illinois was chosen as the host for the event.

Organizers approached the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) to seek its support for the event.

The University of Illinois, not wanting to take on debt to host the Games, gave the NWAA a deadline of January 31, 1984, to raise $2 million or the event would be cancelled. Despite several nationwide fundraising efforts, including a General Mills sponsorship which encouraged donations on the back of every box of Wheaties, the fundraising goal was not met. The following month, the university terminated its contract with the World Wheelchair Games, leaving the event without a host. The organizers contacted the IOC and the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee for emergency support, but without success.

On March 4, 1984, the Executive Committee of the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation (ISMGF), which had organized the Paralympics before 1976, announced that it would host a replacement event if the problems in Illinois could not be resolved. At the time, the ISMGF held an edition of the International Stoke Mandeville Games every summer except in Paralympic years, so this meant hosting an extra event in 1984.

International Games for the Disabled

Beginning in 1976, the International Games for the Disabled, consisting of events for disabled athletes other than those with paraplegia, were organized by the International Sports Organization for the Disabled (ISOD). The event had been held in tandem with the Paralympic Games in Canada in 1976 and in the Netherlands in 1980, but the NWAA decided in October 1980 that its plans in Illinois would not include non-wheelchair athletes. Therefore, the ISOD was responsible for organizing its own event, and also sought to do so in the United States.

The 1984 International Games for the Disabled were sponsored by the U.S. Association for Blind Athletes, the U.S. Amputee Athletic Association, and the National Association of Sports for Cerebral Palsy. Nassau County, New York, was chosen as the host area of the Games in October 1982.

Ceremonies

In the opening ceremonies, patchy showers greeted the 14,000 spectators packed into the Mitchel Park stadium for the 2pm start of the New York Games opening ceremony on 19 June. New York radio personality William B. Williams introduced everyone with a welcome speech. 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. 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 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.

Mascot

The mascot for the 1984 Paralympic Games was Dan D. Lion, which was designed by an art teacher, Maryanne McGrath Higgins. The name was voted on by students of the Human Resources School (now Henry Viscardi School), a school in Albertson, New York for students with severe physical impairments. Another mascot named Dan D. Lion, with a different design, was the mascot for the British team in the Stoke Mandeville portion of the Games.

Sports

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.

• 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

Medal table

Main article: 1984 Summer Paralympics medal table

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.

Participating delegations

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.

• ARG
• AUS
• AUT
• BAH
• BRN
• BEL
• BRA
• BIR
• CAN
• CHN
• DEN
• GDR
• ECU
• EGY
• FRO
• FIN
• FRA
• GBR
• GRE
• GUA
• HKG
• HUN
• ISL
• IND
• INA
• IRL
• ISR
• ITA
• JAM
• JPN
• JOR
• KEN
• KUW
• LIE
• LUX
• MLT
• MEX
• NED
• NZL
• NOR
• PNG
• POL
• POR
• KOR
• ESP
• SWE
• SUI
• THA
• TRI
• USA
• VEN
• FRG
• YUG
• ZIM

Reception at the host cities

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. 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. 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". However, overall reports and the general impression exuded by the games included a friendly atmosphere and volunteers trying their hardest under difficult conditions.

References

References

1. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2008/07/04/paralympics_sixty_feature.shtml "2012 – The Paralympics come home"]{{dead link. (September 2025)
2. Wiley]], 2008, pages 57–60.
3. Phillips, Sarah D.. (2009). "'There Are No Invalids in the USSR!': A Missing Soviet Chapter in the New Disability History". Ohio State University Libraries; Society for Disability Studies.
4. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/quad-city-times/181748239/ "Soviets yank another team from world competition"], [[Associated Press]], via the ''[[Quad-City Times]]'', June 7, 1984, page 27.
5. [https://www.paralympic.org/stoke-mandeville-new-york-1984 "Stoke Mandeville & New York 1984 Paralympic Games"], [[International Paralympic Committee]]. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
6. Hart, Jim. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-breeze/181553976/ "Inglewood may be host for Paralympics"], ''[[The Daily Breeze]]'', June 1, 1981, page A3.
7. Hensley, Denise. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-worth-star-telegram/181561855/ "Arlington leads for '84 Paralympics host"], ''[[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]]'', July 15, 1981, page 1B.
8. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-worth-star-telegram/181562073/ "Arlington drops Paralympic games"], ''[[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]]'', October 6, 1981, page 16A.
9. Zentz, Renny. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-illini/181553604/ "Illinois lands 1984 Paralympics"], ''[[The Daily Illini]]'', December 12, 1981, page 34.
10. Instead, the USOC demanded that the NWAA stop using the term "Paralympics". The [[Amateur Sports Act of 1978]] had given the USOC exclusive control over the use of the term "Olympics" in sporting competitions in the United States, and the USOC had previously sued events like the [[Gay Games#Lawsuit over 'Gay Olympics' name. Gay Olympics]] in San Francisco to stop them from using the name. The name of the Illinois event was changed to the World Wheelchair Games. The change of name contributed to the NWAA's difficulties in raising funds for the event, as the name "Paralympics" was familiar to many but "World Wheelchair Games" was not.Savitz, Harriet May. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-call/181562365/ "Comment: Forcing name change, Olympics dealt Paralympics a cruel blow"], ''[[Allentown Call-Chronicle]]'', March 25, 1984, page B-27.
11. Hilman, Randy. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tennessean/181563484/ "Paralympics Chief Hoping For a 'Miracle'"], ''[[The Tennessean]]'', January 30, 1984, pages 1-B and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tennessean/181563943/ 2-B].
12. Rossi, Frank. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-worth-star-telegram/181564004/ "Athletes losers to power play"], [[Knight-Ridder News Service]], via the ''[[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]]'', July 8, 1984, page 7C.
13. Cashman, Richard, and Simon Darcy. [https://books.google.com/books?id=IOOEKhrn1IAC&pg=PA31 "The Evolution of the Paralympic Games"], ''Benchmark Games: The Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games'', 2008, pages 30–31.
14. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news/181747861/ "Nassau is chosen to host 1984 Int'l Games for Disabled"], ''[[New York Daily News]]'', October 26, 1982, page K 12.
15. English, Merle. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-suffolk-edition/181748034/ "Nassau Will Host Games For Physically Disabled"], ''[[Newsday]]'', March 25, 1983, Suffolk Edition, page 21.
16. Brittain, Ian. (2012). "From Stoke Mandeville to Stratford: A history of the Summer Paralympic Games". Common Ground Publishing.
17. "New York 1984 Paralympic Mascot Dan D. Lion – Photos & History".
18. (1982-02-28). "New York 1984 Paralympic Summer Games".
19. (2023-01-03). "Mascots".
20. (2008). "Stoke Mandeville & New York 1984". [[International Paralympic Committee]].
21. (2008). "Medal Standings – New York / Stoke Mandevile 1984 Paralympic Games". [[International Paralympic Committee]].