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Special Olympics World Games

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Template:Short description Template:Infobox recurring event

The Special Olympics World Games, also known as Special Olympiad, are an international sporting event for participants with intellectual disabilities, organized by the IOC-recognised Special Olympics organization.

PrinciplesEdit

File:A Special Olympics (SO) athlete crosses the finish line after completing the last leg of a 400 meter relay race during the Kadena Air Base SO event in Okinawa, Japan, Nov 111105-F-FL863-002.jpg
Children competing in the 2011 Special Olympics World Games

Although local Special Olympics events and competitions are held around the world every day, the World Games are flagship events. The goal is to showcase the skills and accomplishments of people with intellectual disabilities on a global stage.<ref name="specialolympics.org">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The World Games feature more than a week of competitions involving thousands of athletes. Through media coverage of the Games, the stories and achievements of children and adults with intellectual disabilities are made known to millions of people worldwide.<ref name="specialolympics.org" />

Special Olympics World Games take place every two years and alternate between Summer and Winter Games, a schedule similar to the Olympics and Paralympics. Attracting as many as 350,000 volunteers and coaches, plus several thousands of athletes, these World Games can be the world's largest sporting event of the year.<ref name="specialolympics.org" /><ref name="athens2011.org">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Special Olympics athletes can compete in 32 Olympic-style summer or winter sports. The athletes are adults and children with intellectual disabilities who can range from gifted, world-class competitors to average athletes to those with limited physical ability. In Special Olympics competitions, athletes are matched up according to their ability and age. This “divisioning” process is an effort to make every competition fair, competitive and exciting for athletes as well as fans.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

HistoryEdit

The first International Special Olympics Summer Games were held in Chicago, Illinois, US, in 1968, while the first International Special Olympics Winter Games were held in February 1977 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, US. In 1991, the name was officially changed from International Special Olympics Summer/Winter Games to Special Olympics World Summer/Winter Games.<ref name="reference">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The 1999 Special Olympics World Summer Games received more than half of its funding from private corporations. Olympic historian Bob Barney stated "companies that donate millions might want say in how an event is run", but also felt it positive since "it brings the games to a much larger viewing audience".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2011, Special Olympics World Summer Games were held on June 25 – July 4 in Athens, Greece, involving 6,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities from 170 countries.<ref name="athens2011.org" />

In 2013, the Special Olympics World Winter Games were held in PyeongChang, South Korea from Jan. 29 – Feb. 5. The Host Town program, in which families host Special Olympics athletes from around the world to help them acclimate to the host country and customs, began on Jan. 26, 2013.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games .<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> These games were the first Special Olympics World Summer Games held in the United States in 16 years since the 1999 Summer Games held in Raleigh, North Carolina.

In 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Graz and Schladming in Styria, Austria. This marked a return: Salzburg and Schladming, Austria hosted the fifth Special Olympics World Winter Games in 1993. These were the first Special Olympics World Games held outside the United States. The 2017 World Winter Games were held on March 14–25, 2017.<ref>Austria to host 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games Template:Webarchive. October 12, 2012. Special Olympics official website. Retrieved 2014-06-21.</ref>

Kazan, Russia was due to host the Winter Special Olympics between January 23–29, 2023.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Originally to be held in Åre and Östersund, Sweden however the Swedish Government withdrew its hosting rights in December 2019 due to financial problems. The event had been postponed to January 2023 due a rise of COVID-19 cases. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the event was cancelled due to logistical and safety issues.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The more recent Special Olympics World Summer Games were held June 17–25, 2023 in Berlin, Germany. These were the first Special Olympics World Games to be held in Germany.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Competitions were held in 24 sports.

Turin, Italy will host the next World Winter Games in March 2025. It will mark the first time that Italy has hosted the Special Olympics World Games.

Santiago, Chile will host the next World Summer Games in 2027. It will mark the first time the Special Olympics World Games will be staged in the Southern Hemisphere. It will also be the first time it will be held in Latin America and a Spanish speaking country.

EditionsEdit

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Special Olympics World Summer GamesEdit

Special Olympics World Summer Games
Edition Year Host City Host Country Sports Nations
1968 1 Chicago Template:USA 3 2
1970 2 Chicago Template:USA 2 3
1972 3 Los Angeles Template:USA 2 8
1975 4 Mount Pleasant Template:USA 5 10
1979 5 Brockport Template:USA 8 50
1983 6 Baton Rouge Template:USA 13 50
1987 7 Indiana Template:USA 14 72
1991 8 Minnesota Template:USA 16 91
1995 9 New Haven Template:USA 21 143
1999 10 North Carolina Template:USA 19 150
2003 11 Dublin Template:IRETemplate:Efn 23 166
2007 12 Shanghai Template:CHN 25 165
2011 13 Athens Template:GRETemplate:Efn 22 185
2015 14 Los Angeles Template:USA 25 177
2019 15 Abu Dhabi Template:UAE 22 190
2023 16 Berlin Template:GER 24 190
2027 17 Santiago Template:CHI 22 170

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Special Olympics World Winter GamesEdit

Special Olympics World Winter Games
Edition Year Host City Host Country Sports National Programs
1977 1 Steamboat Springs Template:USA 3 1
1981 2 Vermont Template:USA 3 1
1985 3 Park City Template:USA 3 12
1989 4 Reno, Lake Tahoe and Squaw Valley Template:USA 5 18
1993 5 Salzburg and Schladming {{#invoke:flag Austria}} 5 50
1997 6 Toronto Template:CAN 7 73
2001 7 Anchorage Template:USA 7 80
2005 8 Nagano Template:JPNTemplate:Efn 7 84
2009 9 Boise Template:USA 7 85
2013 10 PyeongChang Template:KOR 7 100
2017 11 Graz and Schladming {{#invoke:flag Austria}} 9 107
2025 12 Turin {{#invoke:flag Italy}} 8 93
2029 13 Chur-Graubünden Template:SUI 9 100

Template:Col-end

1 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, was originally selected to host the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> Due to financial problems and the constant delay in reconstruction of the venues that originally hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics, Sarajevo gave up hosting the Special Olympics and Boise, Idaho, was invited to host instead.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

2 It was planned that Åre and Östersund, Sweden, would host the 2021 World Winter Games between February 2 to 13, 2021.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> However, on December 20, 2019, it was announced that the Swedish Paralympic Committee vetoed the necessary financing for the continuity of the event in the country, invalidating a promise made during the bid process.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On June 29, 2020, it was announced that Kazan would host the Winter Games in 2022.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

  • The sport of powerlifting (Special Olympics) was represented for the first time in 1983.
  • Table tennis, tennis, and football have been Special Olympics sports since 1987.

SportsEdit

Official summer sportsEdit

See footnote<ref name=Sports&Games>Sports & Games. Special Olympics official website. Retrieved 2014-06-21.</ref>

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Official winter sportsEdit

See footnote<ref name=Sports&Games />

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Recognized sportsEdit

Demonstration sportsEdit

  • Stick Shooting

Unified Cup (association football)Edit

Unified Cup

MascotsEdit

Template:See also

Games City Name Type Significance Image Template:Abbr
2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games Shanghai Sunny Sanmao Boy Based on the manhua character created by Zhang Leping File:Shanghai 2007 Special Olympics Mascot (cropped).jpg citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games Athens Apollon Sun Named after the god Apollo citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games Pyeongchang Ra, In, and Bow Bear, sheep, and dog Their names spell "Rainbow" citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games Graz and Schladming Lara and Luis Deer and badger Animals from Austria File:Special Olympics World Winter Games 2017 Jufa Vienna-79.jpg citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games Abu Dhabi Faris and Rabdan Boy and horse Horses are a symbol of Arabia and are used therapeutically citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

2022 Special Olympics World Winter Games (cancelled) Kazan Zilant Dragon Mythical creature from Turkic mythology citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games Berlin Unity Heart It represents unity and affection citation CitationClass=web

}}</ref>

Regional gamesEdit

ZonesEdit

204 National Programs in 7 Continental Zones (Updated at December 17, 2022):<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Number Region National Programs
1 Africa 40
2 Asia-Pacific 35
3 East Asia 6
4 Eurasia 58
5 Latin America 20
6 MENA 22
7 North America 23
Total Special Olympics 204

Asia Pacific GamesEdit

In 2013, Australia hosted the first ever Special Olympics Asia Pacific Games.<ref>Asia Pacific Games / Newcastle 2013. Special Olympics official website. Retrieved 2014-06-21.</ref>

Special Olympics European GamesEdit

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

USA GamesEdit

USA Games

Middle East and North Africa GamesEdit

MENA games<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • Next:

Pan African GamesEdit

First ever Pan African Games in 2020 in Cairo, Egypt.

Latin American GamesEdit

Latin American Special Olympics Games:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

4th Latin American Special Olympics - Asunción, Paraguay 2024

See alsoEdit

NotesEdit

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ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

Template:Special Olympics Template:International multi-sport events

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