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 3.1 million athletes in 175 countries.
Alternating between summer and winter, the Special Olympics World Games are held every two years. Often the Games are the largest sporting event to take place in the world during that year. There are also local, national and regional competitions in over 175 countries worldwide.
History
The first International Special Olympics Summer Games were held at
Soldier FieldSoldier Field is located on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois, United States, in the Near South Side. It is home to the NFL's Chicago Bears...
in Chicago in 1968. Anne McGlone Burke, a physical education teacher with the Chicago Park District, began with the idea for a one-time Olympic-style athletic competition for people with special needs. Burke then approached
Eunice Kennedy ShriverEunice Kennedy Shriver, DSG a member of the Kennedy family, sister to President John F. Kennedy and Senators Robert F. Kennedy and Edward Kennedy, was the founder in 1962 of Camp Shriver, and in 1968, the Special Olympics...
, head of the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, to fund the event. Shriver encouraged Burke to expand on the idea and the JPK Foundation provided a grant of $25,000. More than 1,000 athletes from across the United States and Canada participated. At the games, Shriver announced the formation of Special Olympics. Shriver’s sister,
Rosemary KennedyRose Marie "Rosemary" Kennedy was the third child and first daughter of Rose Elizabeth Kennedy née Fitzgerald and Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Sr., born little more than a year after her brother, future U.S. President John F. Kennedy...
, underwent a lobotomy in an effort by her father to cure her mental illness. The brain damage inflicted by the operation caused her to be permanently incapacitated. This disability is often credited as Shriver's inspiration to form the Special Olympics, but Shriver told
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
in 1995 that was not the case.
In June 1962, Eunice Kennedy Shriver started a day camp, known as Camp Shriver, for children with intellectual disabilities at her home in
Potomac, MarylandPotomac is a census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, named for the nearby Potomac River. The population was 44,822 at the 2000 census. The Potomac area is known for its very affluent and highly-educated residents. In 2009 CNNMoney.com listed Potomac as the fourth...
. Using Camp Shriver as an example, Shriver 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.
In 1971, The U.S. Olympic Committee gave the Special Olympics official approval to use the name “Olympics”.
The first 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 CommitteeThe International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
(IOC).
In 1997, Healthy Athletes became an official Special Olympics initiative, offering health information and screenings to Special Olympics athletes worldwide..
In 2003 the first Special Olympics World Summer Games to be held outside of the United States took place in
Dublin Ireland. Approximately 7000 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 IrelandThe President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...
Mary McAleeseMary Patricia McAleese served as the eighth President of Ireland from 1997 to 2011. She was the second female president and was first elected in 1997 succeeding Mary Robinson, making McAleese the world's first woman to succeed another as president. She was re-elected unopposed for a second term in...
.
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 GamesThe 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games were hosted in Ireland, with participants staying in various host towns around the island in the lead up to the games before moving to Dublin for the events. Events were held from 21 June-29 June 2003 at many venues including Morton Stadium, the Royal...
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. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
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 BluntRoy D. Blunt is the junior United States Senator from Missouri. He is a member of the Republican Party. His Senate seat was previously held by Republican Kit Bond, until his retirement....
(R-MO), and
Steny HoyerSteny Hamilton Hoyer is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1981. The district includes a large swath of rural and suburban territory southeast of Washington, D.C.. He is a member of the Democratic Party....
(D-MD), and Senators
Rick SantorumRichard John "Rick" Santorum is a lawyer and a former United States Senator from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Santorum was the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference -making him the third-ranking Senate Republican from 2001 until his leave in 2007. Santorum is considered both a social...
(R-PA) and
Harry ReidHarry Mason Reid is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip.Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S...
(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 UniversityIowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
. Teams from all 50 states and the District of Columbia participated.
In April 2007, a large group of athletes and volunteers in the San Diego area broke away from the Special Olympics to start a new group to serve athletes with developmental disabilities ages 5 through adult:
SPORTS for Exceptional AthletesSPORTS for Exceptional Athletes is a San Diego, California-based nonprofit athletic organization, created to provide enhanced opportunities for people with and without disabilities. The primary mission of SPORTS for Exceptional Athletes is to serve people with developmental disabilities within the...
.
In 2008, the Special Olympics and
Best Buddies InternationalBest Buddies International is a nonprofit 501 organization. It consists of volunteers that attempt to create opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities ....
launched the
Spread the Word to End the WordSpread the Word to End the Word is a United States national campaign to encourage people to pledge to stop using the word retard.End the R word advocates believe the use of the word “retard” in colloquial and everyday speech is hurtful and dehumanizing to individuals with mental retardation...
campaign to encourage individuals to stop using the word "retard" in everyday speech.
In 2010, the first Latin America Regional Special Olympics on U.S. soil was held in
San JuanSan Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
's
Hiram Bithorn StadiumHiram Bithorn Stadium is a baseball park in San Juan, Puerto Rico, operated by the municipal government of the city of San Juan. Its name honors the first Puerto Rican to play in the major leagues, Hiram Bithorn, who first played with the Chicago Cubs in 1942...
.
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. The measure is at risk due to strong partisanship in the two chambers.
Symbols
The Special Olympics
logoA logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...
has gone through several changes in its lifetime. The "
stick figureA stick figure is a very simple type of drawing made of lines and dots, often of the human form or other animals. In a stick figure, the head is represented by a circle, sometimes embellished with details such as eyes, mouth or crudely scratched-out hair. The arms, legs and torso are all...
" 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.
Participation
More than three million athletes of all ages are involved in Special Olympics sports training and competition in over 170 countries. The organization offers year-round training and competition in 31 Olympic-type summer and winter sports. Most of the participants are encouraged to join the Special Olympics for the physical benefit which helps lower the rate of cardiovascular disease and obesity within the intellectually disabled. Also, they gain many emotional and mental benefits as well including self confidence, social competence, and build a higher self esteem.
Families can get involved with the Special Olympics experience. The job of a family member is to support their athlete to the best of their ability, which involves going to and volunteering at the events. By being involved they can boost their athlete's self-esteem and will be looked at as a constant source of encouragement. There are several events that families can get involved with, but the biggest event is the
Law Enforcement Torch RunThe Law Enforcement Torch Run Campaign to benefit the Special Olympics began in 1981 in Wichita, Kansas and is the largest grass-roots fundraising movement for the Special Olympics....
. The Torch involves police chiefs, police officers, secret service, FBI agents, military police, sheriffs, state troopers, prison guards, and other law enforcement personnel. They all get together to raise $15 million for the Special Olympics.
Law EnforcementLaw enforcement broadly refers to any system by which some members of society act in an organized manner to promote adherence to the law by discovering and punishing persons who violate the rules and norms governing that society...
officers would carry the torch in intervals along a planned route covering most of the state or country to the site of the opening ceremonies of the chapter or International Special Olympics Summer Games. Then they would pass the torch to an athlete and together they would run up to the cauldron and light it signifying the beginning of the games.
There are others who are involved with the athletes in the Special Olympics, they are coaches, volunteers, sponsors/donors, and spectators. The job of the coaches of the Special Olympics is to help the athletes be the best they can be despite the fact that they have some type of disability, and you don't have to have any type of experience to become a coach, the organization you are affiliated with will train you. The job of the volunteers of the Special Olympics is to create lifetime friendships and great rewards. Anyone over the age of 10 years old can be a volunteer. The job of the spectators of the Special Olympics is to just attend all the events and cheer the athletes on for encouragement.
The Special Olympics
oathAn oath is either a statement of fact or a promise calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually God, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact. To swear is to take an oath, to make a solemn vow...
is "Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt."
Sports offered
Special Olympics has over 30 Olympic-type individual and team sports that provide meaningful training and competition opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities. And a few are listed below:
- Alpine Skiing
- Aquatics
- Basketball
- Bowling
- Cross Country Skiing
- Figure Skating
- Floor Hockey
- Golf
- Gymnastics
- Powerlifting
- Snowshoe
- Soccer
- Softball
- Tennis
- Volleyball
These are only a few sports that the Special Olympics has to offer, there are many more sports available. Sports that the Special Olympics have to offer does vary. These sports vary depending on the specific organization you are with and depending on the state you are in. Special Olympic sports also vary because in the winter time the sports played are rarely the same as the sports played in the summer. The youth athletes (ages 2-7) play simple sports like basketball, soccer, racing, etc. The youth play these simple sports because they are not capable of doing the other sports due to their age. If Special Olympics volunteers do decide to let the youth play other sports it will be a different, but similar version of that game. In 1968, track and field and swimming were the first two official sports offered by Special Olympics. As in the Olympics, events are introduced in training and then added to the competitive schedule, and from there the list of sports and events continued to grow.
See also
- Flame of Hope
The Flame of Hope can refer to one of two symbolic flames. One is affiliated with Dr. Frederick Banting and the other with the Special Olympics.-Dr. Frederick Banting:...
- Law Enforcement Torch Run
The Law Enforcement Torch Run Campaign to benefit the Special Olympics began in 1981 in Wichita, Kansas and is the largest grass-roots fundraising movement for the Special Olympics....
- Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
- Paralympic Games
The Paralympic Games are a major international multi-sport event where athletes with a physical disability compete; this includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and Cerebral Palsy. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which are held immediately following their...
- Deaflympics
The Deaflympics are an International Olympic Committee -sanctioned event at which deaf athletes compete at an elite level...
- Special Olympics Canada
Special Olympics Canada is a national organization founded in 1969 to help people with intellectual disabilities develop self-confidence and social skills through sports training and competition.-About:...
- Special Olympics Great Britain
The Special Olympics Great Britain was founded in 1978 by Chris Maloney MBE. It was one of the first European programmes of the ....
- Special Olympics USA
The Special Olympics USA is a Special Olympics event held every four years in the United States since being founded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver in 2006.-2014 Games:...
- Special Olympics World Games
The Special Olympics World Games are an international sporting competition for athletes with intellectual disabilities, organized by Special Olympics....
- Special Hockey
Special Hockey, sometimes known as Adaptive Hockey, is a version of ice hockey adapted for athletes with cognitive disorders. For such athletes it bears a similar relationship to ice hockey as ice sledge hockey does for athletes with disorders of mobility....
Further reading
- Kessler, Ronald
Ronald Borek Kessler is an American journalist and author of 19 non-fiction books. He is chief Washington, D.C. correspondent of the conservative news and commentary website Newsmax.com.-Personal life:Kessler was born in New York City in 1943...
. The Sins of the Father: Joseph P. Kennedy and the Dynasty He Founded. Warner BooksHachette Book Group is a publishing company owned by Hachette Livre, the largest publishing company in France, and the second largest publisher in the world. Hachette Livre is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lagardère Group. HBG was formed when Hachette Livre purchased the Time Warner Book Group from...
, 1996. ISBN 0-446-60384-8.
External links