The Seoul 1988 Paralympic Games were, at that time, the largest and best-facilitated in Games history. They gave a new generation of Paralympic athletes the opportunity to compete in many of the well-designed and well-constructed facilities used previously for the Olympic Games. For the first time a free technical service for all athletes was provided by Ottobock.

*Opening Ceremony only

The Paralympic Winter Games in Tignes-Albertville were the first to take place in the same location as the Olympics. Ottobock offered technical services for the first time at the Paralympic Winter Games.

*No data available

Seoul was a watershed moment. It showed that great things can be accomplished when athletes and experienced technicians work closely together. In Barcelona, Ottobock set up a fully-equipped mobile workshop for the first time to give Paralympians direct access to their experts.

*Opening Ceremony only

The trend continued in Atlanta. More and more athletes competed in the Paralympic Games. The public’s interest grew, too. Nearly 400,000 spectators and over 2,000 members of the media came to watch the competition. The Ottobock workshop had more and more to do.

Young Canadian Mark Ludbrook – a below-knee amputee – broke his aluminium ankle joint in a training run. After just five hours in the workshop, his prosthetic leg was as good as new and Mark was back out on the race course. Ottobock’s service team in Nagano was led by German-Japanese orthopaedic specialist Koiichi Tsukishiro.

Fanie Lombard was leading the Pentathlon when the knee joint in his prosthetic leg broke out of its anchor. Ottobock’s technicians raced to repair it right in the stadium. The South African remained in contention and eventually won gold. The number of spectators reached 1.2 million – more than twice as many as in Atlanta.

Slovakia’s Iveta Chlebakova brought her prosthetic arm to the Ottobock’s workshop on the eve of the Giant Slalom. Underneath her cosmetic glove the technicians found the hand had been shattered into countless pieces. Overnight the team constructed a completely new arm. The next day, after winning bronze, Iveta stopped by the workshop to show off her new medal and gave technician Robert Laermann her start number as a token of gratitude.

The Iranian national Wheelchair Basketball team’s hopes of competing in the Paralympic Games were nearly shattered when they arrived in Athens. Their wheelchairs, which had been disassembled for the flight, were missing tiny but important washers. Replacement parts for the entire team would take time – precious time Iran didn’t have with the Games beginning the following day. Improvisation quickly became the day’s buzzword.

Liudmila Vauchok of Belarus and Greta Khndzrtsyan of Armenia were their team’s flag bearers for the Opening Ceremony beginning in just a few hours. But both had a problem with the brackets on their wheelchairs. At the Ottobock workshop in Sestriere, new ones were welded for them and the two arrived at the Olympic Stadium in Torino just in time.

Madagascar’s Josefa Harijaona wanted to have the foot of his old aluminium and leather prosthesis repaired. Ottobock’s technicians saw little hope of fixing the outdated foot and offered to build him a new one. Josefa declined the offer because he couldn’t afford it. He could hardly believe his ears when he was told that he wouldn’t have to pay for the service.

In cooperation with the International Paralympic Committee, Ottobock presented “Spirit in Motion – Discover What Moves Us” – a public exhibition built right in the heart of Whistler. The “Snow Dome” attracted nearly 25,000 visitors and showed just how much interest has grown in the history and technology behind competitive sports for athletes with a disability.

In 2012 Ottobock will once again be on hand to provide maintenance and repairs of prostheses, orthoses and wheelchairs for Paralympians, setting up repair centres in all three Paralympic Villages. Additional workshops are also planned for selected venues.


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