Special Olympics World Games

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Special Olympics World Games
2003 Special Olympics Opening Crowd.JPG
The crowd at the Special Olympics World Games Opening Ceremony in Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland, 2003
StatusActive
GenreSporting event
Date(s)Various
FrequencyEvery two years
CountryVarious
Inaugurated1968 (1968) (summer)
1977 (1977) (winter)
The mascot for the 2007 Special Olympics World Games in Shanghai, displayed in Pudong in front of the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum.

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

Principles[]

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.[1] 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.[1]

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.[1][2]

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. It's a fundamental rule of Special Olympics competitions that 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.[3]

History[]

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.[4]

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.[2]

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.[5]

In 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games .[6] 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.[7]

Kazan, Russia will host the next World Winter Games between, January 22–28, 2022. 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 has been postponed to january 2023 due to the delta variant of Covid-19. [8]

The recent Special Olympics World Summer Games were held March 14–21, 2019 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. These were the first Special Olympics World Games to be held in the Middle East/North Africa region.[9] Competitions were held in 24 sports.

Berlin, Germany will host the next World Summer Games between June 16–25, 2023. It will mark the first time that Germany has ever hosted the Special Olympics World Games.[10]

Editions[]

1 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, was originally selected to host the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games.[11] 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.[12]

2 It was planned that Åre and Östersund, Sweden, would host the 2021 World Winter Games between February 2 to 13, 2021.[13] 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.[14] On June 29, 2020, it was announced that Kazan would host the Winter Games in 2022.[15]

Official summer sports[]

See footnote[16]
  • Athletics (track and field)
  • Badminton
  • Basketball
  • Bocce
  • Bowling
  • Cycling
  • Equestrian
  • Football (Soccer)
  • Golf
  • Gymnasticsartistic and rhythmic
  • Handball
  • Judo
  • Powerlifting
  • Roller skating
  • Sailing
  • Softball
  • Swimming
  • Table tennis
  • Tennis
  • Volleyball

Official winter sports[]

See footnote[16]

Recognized sports[]

  • Cricket
  • Kayaking

Demonstration sports[]

  • Stick Shooting

Unified Cup[]

https://www.specialolympics.org/our-work/games-and-competition/unified-cup

  1. 2018: https://www.specialolympics.org/our-work/50th/unified-cup?locale=en
  2. 2022: https://www.specialolympics.org/unified-cup-2022?locale=en

Regional games[]

Zones[]

204 Countries in 7 Zones (Updated at 17 Dec 2021):[17]

Number Region Countries
1 Africa 40
2 Asia Pacific 35
3 East Asia 6
4 Europe/Eurasia 58
5 Latin America 20
6 Middle East/North Africa 22
7 North America 23
Total Special Olympics 204

Asia Pacific Games[]

In 2013, Australia hosted the first ever Special Olympics Asia Pacific Games.[18]

  • 2013 Australia Newcastle
  • 2025 Japan Utsunomiya
  • 2029 China Tianjin

Special Olympics European Games[]

July 1990 - The Third European Special Olympics Summer Games is held in Strathclyde, Scotland. https://www.sotx.org/sotx-history-timeline

European Special Olympics Summer Games in Antwerp, Belgium 2014. https://en.trend.az/azerbaijan/society/2308813.html

  • 2024 Switzerland Montreux, Nyon and Lausanne

USA Games[]

https://www.2022specialolympicsusagames.org/

MENA Games[]

https://www.abudhabi2019.org/about/special-olympics-mena

https://dotorg.brightspotcdn.com/e2/a0/d8f5fd8c42fa9e5c0ea87efae722/egypt-factsheet-2018.pdf

REGIONAL EVENTS:

 1st MENA Regional Games in Cairo, Egypt, 1999

 2nd MENA Regional Games in Rabat, Morocco, 2000

 3rd MENA Regional Games in Beirut, Lebanon, 2002

 4th MENA Regional Games in Tunis, Tunisia, 2004

 5th MENA Regional Games in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2006

 6th MENA Regional Games in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2008

 7th MENA Regional Games in Damascus, Syria, 2010

  1. 1999 : The first MENA Games were held in 1999 in Egypt.
  2. 2000 : 2nd MENA Regional Games in Rabat, Morocco, 2000.
  3. 2002 : 3rd MENA Regional Games in Beirut, Lebanon, 2002.
  4. 2004 : 4th MENA Regional Games in Tunis, Tunisia, 2004
  5. 2006 : 5th MENA Regional Games in Dubai, UAE, 2006.
  6. 2008 : 6th MENA Regional Games in Abu-Dhabi, UAE, 2008.
  7. 2010 : 7th MENA Regional Games in Damascus, Syria, 2010
  8. 2014 : 8th Special Olympics MENA Regional Games in cairo, egypt. https://sana.sy/en/?p=21306
  9. 2018 : https://www.specialolympics.org/stories/news/2018-special-olympics-middle-east-north-africa-9th-regional-games
  10. 2022:

Pan African Games[]

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

  • 2020 Egypt Cairo
  • 2024 Rwanda TBA

Arab Games[]

no events.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "Special Olympics: World Games Overview". specialolympics.org.
  2. ^ a b "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-02-23. Retrieved 2012-09-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "Special Olympics: About Competitions Results Schedules". specialolympics.org.
  4. ^ "Special Olympics: History of Special Olympics". specialolympics.org.
  5. ^ "Welcome World Winter Games PyeongChang 2013". 2013sopoc.org. Archived from the original on 2012-08-17. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
  6. ^ "2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games In Los Angeles 2015". La2015.org. Archived from the original on 2015-07-08. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
  7. ^ Austria to host 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games. October 12, 2012. Special Olympics official website. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  8. ^ "Special Olympics Selects Kazan, Russia to Host Landmark World Winter Games in 2022". Special Olympics.
  9. ^ "Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019".
  10. ^ "Berlin, Germany selected to host the 2023 Special Olympics World Games". Special Olympics.
  11. ^ "2009 Special Olympics To Take Place In Sarajevo, Bosnia And Herzegovina". GamesBid.com. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  12. ^ McLaughlin, Micah (June 14, 2006). "Special Olympics come to Idaho in 2009". The Arbiter. The Arbiter. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  13. ^ "Sweden selected to host the 2021 Special Olympics World Winter Games". Special Olympics.
  14. ^ "New Location for 2021 World Winter Games". Special Olympics.
  15. ^ "Special Olympics Selects Kazan, Russia to Host Landmark World Winter Games in 2022". Special Olympics.
  16. ^ a b Sports & Games. Special Olympics official website. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  17. ^ "Special Olympics Regions".
  18. ^ Asia Pacific Games / Newcastle 2013. Special Olympics official website. Retrieved 2014-06-21.

External links[]

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