1994 Winter Paralympics in the context of "Biathlon at the 1994 Winter Paralympics"

The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games (Norwegian: De 17. olympiske vinterleker; Nynorsk: Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Having lost the bid for the 1992 Winter Olympics to Albertville in France, Lillehammer was awarded the 1994 Winter Games on 15 September 1988, two days before the 1988 Summer Olympics opening ceremonies at the 94th IOC Session in Seoul, South Korea. Due to the calendar changes made in 1986, this was the only time that the Winter Olympics took place two years after the previous Winter Games, and the first to be held in a different year from the Summer Olympics. This meant that from now on, the Olympic Games are held on every even-numbered year instead of every four years. This was the first Winter Olympics that took place in a year with the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and FIFA World Cup. This was the second Olympic Games of any type hosted in Norway — the first being the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo — and the fourth Olympics overall to be held in a Nordic country, after the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, and the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. Lillehammer is the northernmost city ever to host the Olympic Games.

Although Lillehammer Municipality was the main host, some events were held in neighboring municipalities, and the speed skating events were held in Hamar Municipality, some ice hockey matches were played in Gjøvik Municipality, and the Alpine skiing events were held in Øyer Municipality and Ringebu Municipality. Sixty-seven National Olympic Committees and 1,737 athletes participated in six sports and sixty-one events. Fourteen countries made their Olympic debuts, of which nine were former Soviet republics. The Games also saw the introduction of stricter and more rigid qualifying rules, reducing the number of under-performing participants. Six new events were introduced into the Olympic programme: new distances in short-track speed skating and aerials, and speed skating events were held indoors. Almost two million people spectated at the Games, which were the first to have the Olympic Truce in effect. The Olympics were followed by the 1994 Winter Paralympics from 10 to 19 March.

Sledge hockey, also known as Sled hockey in American English, and Para ice hockey in international competition, is an adaptation of ice hockey for players who have a physical disability. The sport was invented in the early 1960s at a rehabilitation centre in Stockholm, Sweden, and played under similar rules to standard ice hockey. Players are seated on sleds and use special hockey sticks with metal "teeth" on the tips of their handles to navigate the ice. Playing venues use an ice hockey rink.

Sledge hockey has been a part of the Winter Paralympics programme since 1994. Via its division World Para Ice Hockey, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) acts as the international sanctioning body for the sport. It has been played in the Winter Paralympics since 1994, and has been one of the most popular events. Since 2016, the IPC has promoted the sport under the name "Para ice hockey" for linguistic reasons, as part of an effort to streamline its sanctioning of the sport outside of the Paralympics.

Håkons Hall, sometimes anglicized as Håkon Hall and Haakons Hall, is an arena located at Stampesletta in Lillehammer, Norway. With a spectator capacity of 11,500 people, it is the largest handball and ice hockey venue in the country. Håkons Hall is regularly used for handball and ice hockey tournaments, concerts, exhibitions, conferences and banquets. The venue is owned by Lillehammer Municipality via the subsidiary Lillehammer Olympiapark, which owns all the Olympic venues in Lillehammer. The Norwegian Olympic Museum is located in the arena, which is located next to the smaller Eidsiva Arena.

The hall opened on 1 February 1993, having cost 238 million Norwegian krone (NOK). It was built to host the ice hockey tournament at the 1994 Winter Olympics, and has since hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1994 Winter Paralympics, the 1999 IIHF World Championship in ice hockey, the World Women's Handball Championship in 1993 and 1999, the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2004, the 2008 European Men's Handball Championship and the 2010 European Women's Handball Championship. Lillehammer IK has occasionally played ice hockey matches at the arena.

Alpine skiing at the 1994 Winter Paralympics, in Lillehammer (Norway), consisted of 66 events, 46 for men and 20 for women.

Ice sledge speed racing at the 1994 Winter Paralympics consisted of eight events, four for men and four for women.

Athletes from seven countries (Norway, Austria, Canada, Estonia, Iceland, Japan and the Netherlands) took part and Norway pulled off an almost complete clean sweep of the medals, winning all eight gold medals, all eight silver, and seven of the eight bronze - with the sole other going to Austria.

Cross-country skiing at the 1994 Winter Paralympics consisted of 48 events, 29 for men and 19 for women.

Ice sledge hockey at the 1994 Winter Paralympics consisted of a mixed event.

Although it was a mixed event, the only female athlete was the Norwegian Britt Mjaasund Øyen.

Eidsiva Arena, also known as Kristins Hall, is an arena located at Stampesletta in Lillehammer, Norway. It consists of an ice rink, a combined handball and floorball court, and a curling rink. The venue, owned and operated by the Lillehammer Municipality, opened in 1988 and cost 65 million Norwegian krone (NOK) to build. One of the motivations for its construction was to help Lillehammer's bid to be selected as the host of the 1994 Winter Olympics. The ice rink has a capacity for 3,194 spectators and is the home rink of GET-ligaen hockey club Lillehammer IK. Eidsiva Arena is located next to the larger Håkons Hall, which opened in 1993. During the 1994 Winter Olympics, Kristins Hall was a training rink, and subsequently hosted the ice sledge hockey tournament at the 1994 Winter Paralympics. The venue also co-hosted Group B of the 1989 World Ice Hockey Championships.

During the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics, it hosted the Curling and the Ice hockey competitions.