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The first Special Olympics is held20.7.1968
Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and competitions to more than 4 million athletes in 170 countries. Special Olympics competitions are held every day, all around the world—including local, national and regional competitions, adding up to more than 53,000 events a year.
These competitions include the Special Olympics World Games, which alternate between summer and winter games. Special Olympics World Games are held every two years. The Special Olympics World Games are often the largest sporting event to take place in the world during that year. The most recent World Summer Games were the Special Olympics World Summer Games, held in Athens, Greece, from June 25, 2011 to July 4, 2011.
The most recent Special Olympics World Winter Games were held in Pyeongchang, South Korea from January 29 to February 5, 2013. At the same time, the first Special Olympics Global Development Summit was held on "Ending the Cycle of Poverty and Exclusion for People with Intellectual Disabilities," gathering government officials, activists and business leaders from around the world
The next World Games will be the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Los Angeles, California from July 24 to August 2, 2015. Graz and Schladming, Austria will host the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games in 2017.History
In June 1962, Eunice Kennedy Shriver started a day camp for children with intellectual disabilities at her home in Potomac, Maryland. She started this camp because she was concerned about disabled children with nowhere to play. Using Camp Shriver as an example, Shriver, who was head of the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation and part of President Kennedy's Panel on Mental Retardation, promoted the concept of involvement in physical activity and competition opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities. Camp Shriver became an annual event, and the Kennedy Foundation (of which Shriver was executive vice president) gave grants to universities, recreation departments and community centers to hold similar camps.
Shriver and Kennedy’s oldest sister, Rosemary Kennedy, underwent a lobotomy in an effort by their father to cure her mental disability. The brain damage inflicted by the operation caused her to be permanently incapacitated. This disability is often credited as Shriver's inspiration to form Special Olympics, but Shriver told The New York Times in 1995 that was not exactly the case.
The first International Special Olympics Summer Games were held at Soldier Field in Chicago in 1968. Anne McGlone Burke, a physical education teacher with the Chicago Park District and recipient of a Kennedy Foundation grant, began with the idea for a one-time Olympic-style athletic competition for people with special needs. Burke then approached Eunice Kennedy Shriver to fund the event. Shriver encouraged Burke to expand on the idea and the JPK Jr. Foundation provided a grant of $25,000.
More than 1,000 athletes from across the United States and Canada participated. At the July 1968 games, Shriver announced the formation of Special Olympics.
In 1971, The U.S. Olympic Committee gave the Special Olympics official approval to use the name “Olympics”.
The first 1977 Special Olympics World Winter Games|International Special Olympics Winter Games were held in February 1977 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, USA.
In 1988, the Special Olympics was officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
In 1997, Healthy Athletes became an official Special Olympics initiative, offering health information and screenings to Special Olympics athletes worldwide. By 2010, the Healthy Athletes program had given free health screenings and treatment to more than 1 million people with intellectual disabilities.
In 2003 the first Special Olympics World Summer Games to be held outside of the United States took place in Dublin Ireland. Approximately 7,000 athletes from 150 countries competed over 18 disciplines. The Dublin games were also the first to have their own opening and closing ceremonies broadcast live, performed by President of Ireland Mary McAleese. Most significantly the 2003 games dramatically changed the perceptions and attitudes of society regarding the abilities and limitations of people with intellectual disabilities. The opening ceremony of the 2003 Games has been described by President of Ireland Mary McAleese as "a time when Ireland was at its superb best".
On October 30, 2004, President George W. Bush signed into law the "Special Olympics Sport and Empowerment Act," Public Law 108-406. The bill authorized funding for its Healthy Athletes, Education, and Worldwide Expansion programs. Co-sponsored by Representatives Roy Blunt (R-MO), and Steny Hoyer (D-MD), and Senators Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Harry Reid (D-NV), the bills were passed by unanimous consent in both chambers.
In July 2006, the first Special Olympics USA National Games were held at Iowa State University. Teams from all 50 states and the District of Columbia participated.
In 2008, the Special Olympics and Best Buddies International launched the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign to encourage individuals to stop using the word "retard" in everyday speech.
In 2011, Senators Tom Harkin and Roy Blunt and Representatives Steny Hoyer and Peter King introduced the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Act to authorize federal funding for Special Olympics Programs and Best Buddies Programs.
SymbolsThe Special Olympics logo has gone through several changes in its lifetime. The "stick figure" is an abstract but humanistic form designed to convey the impression of movement and activity. The logo is a symbol of growth, confidence and joy among children and adults with disabilities who are learning coordination, mastering skills, participating in competitions and preparing themselves for richer, more productive lives. The spherical appearance of the logo is a representation of Special Olympics' global outreach.
