Special Olympics Healthy Athletes Special Olympics Healthy Athletes® is an initiative designed to help Special Olympics athletes improve their health and fitness, resulting in enhanced well-being, sports performance and quality of life. More than 1,000 free health screenings were provided to Special Olympics athletes from Japan and 10 visiting nations through the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes® program at the Special Olympics Nippon National Winter Games in Nagano, Japan from 27-28 February 2004. The Games served as the Preliminary Games for the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games. Volunteer health care professionals contributed their time and clinical expertise to offer dental, vision and hearing screenings; here a Special Olympics China athlete receives an examination to check his hearing. [Photo courtesy Special Olympics Nippon] At the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Nagano, Healthy Athletes volunteers provided competing athletes a variety of free health assessments and services in a welcoming atmosphere at the Monzen Plaza and Special Olympics Town. Healthy Athletes provided 4,185 health screenings  in six disciplines to 1,153 athletes competing in the 2005 World Winter Games. The primary goal of the Healthy Athletes venues is to provide health assessments to the athletes, their families and their coaches regarding their health status and needs and, in some cases, provide services such as prescription eyewear, protective mouth guards and health education. A centralized data collection system will allow individual and team profiles, as well as state and country summaries. This information will eventually be available to Special Olympics Programs (countries) and coaches so they can continue to improve the health and performance of their athletes. At the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Dublin, Ireland, more than 3,600 athletes (over 50 percent of the athletes participating in the Games) went through at least one health screening, and more than 10,000 screenings were conducted in all. Japan's Imperial Highness, Princess Takamodo, was welcomed to the 2004 Special Olympics Nippon National Winter Game Healthy Athletes screening venue by dedicated volunteers. [Photo by Alice Lenihan] Volunteer health care professionals who participate in these screenings learn about the health needs of Special Olympics athletes, and gain knowledge and confidence in volunteering their skills to work with people with intellectual disabilities. Health data will be collected and compiled at the screenings, then used for policy development, program development and planning, and public education. Healthy Athletes volunteer Tomomi Furukawa works with a Special Olympics Nippon athlete. [Photo by Alice Lenihan] Athlete screenings were available throughout the Games beginning on Saturday, 26 February through Friday, 4 March. All screenings are free of charge. Coaches were encouraged to accompany their athletes and teams to the Healthy Athletes venue. Not only did coaches observe the screenings, they also received information and education regarding their athletes' health care that can improve performance and compliance with training regimens. Overview of Healthy Athletes The mission of Special Olympics Healthy Athletes is to improve each athlete's ability to train and compete in Special Olympics. The specific goals of the initiative are to: Improve access to and availability of health care for Special Olympics athletes; Facilitate referrals to community practitioners for additional care; Collect and analyze data on the health status and health needs of people with intellectual disabilities; Contribute to the education and training of health care professionals; and Advocate for improved health care policies and programs for persons with cognitive impairments. Visit the Healthy Athletes section of this Web site to learn more. Healthy Athletes includes six core disciplines: Special Smiles®, Opening Eyes®, Healthy Hearing, FUNfitness, Health Promotion and Fit Feet.