BEST – Paralympic gold

Through  60 years of Paralympic Games 102 Norwegian athletes have won 294 gold medals.   

New gold winners

Photographer Arnfinn Johnsen has portraited Norwegian gold winners in the Olympics. This is a equivalent exhibition on our 84 living gold winners in the Paralympics. The exhibition is updated with our last two gold winners, Birgit Skarstein and Salum Ageze Kashafali, who became Olympic masters in the Summer Games in Tokyo last summer. 

With the photos, Johnsen wanted to show the athletes with no focus on their disabilities or the deeds they are known for.

Role models

The purpose of the exhibition and the book "BEST – 82 Paralympic gold portraits" is to contribute to make the Paralympic gold winners visible in a positive way and to be role models for young people with disabilities. 

The Paralympic gold winners' economical and attentional situation is very different from our other gold winners.  Maybe the Paralympic athletes' achievements are even larger than the functional athletes'  – with their large and professional support network, Johnsen says.

The exhibition and the stories in the book tell about joy, courage, stamina, happiness and strength  – and about beeing best..  

Jesper Saltvik Pedersen. Photo: Arnfinn Johnsen

Salum Ageze Kashafali. Photo: Arnfinn Johnsen

Cato Zahl Pedersen. Photo: Arnfinn Johnsen