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Then and now...above, athletes march into Soldier Field for the inaugural World Games; below Special Olympics Algeria's delegation enters Dublin's Croke Park stadium — more than 6,500 athletes participated in the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games. [Top photo, Special Olympics archives. Bottom, Susan Kennedy, IRELAND OUT] |
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Milestones are important. There are plenty of 35th anniversaries out there begging to be noticed, but none more important than the anniversary of what took place on the field on 20 July 1968. That was the day nearly 1,000 athletes from the United States, Canada and France gathered at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois, USA, and showed that a celebration of sports, opportunity and joy was going to change the world.
When Special Olympics hosted its first International Games in 1968, athletes gave their all in a stadium that included 100,000 empty seats — a reflection of the attitudes and lack of awareness of the time. Since then, Special Olympics has served enough athletes around the world to fill each of those seats 10 times over — and attracted enough volunteers to fill each 1,000 times.
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Then and now...above, Special Olympics Founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver overlooks Soldier Field in 1968. Below, a view of Croke Park as the athletes and delegations assemble in their seats before a packed house. [Top photo, Special Olympics archives. Bottom, Alan Betson, IRELAND OUT] |
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In 35 years, Special Olympics has helped define an entirely new, entirely possible vision of a world community; a place defined not by who gets excluded, but who gets included; a place where differences are cause not for castigation, but celebration; a place, not coincidentally, where people of different races, nationalities, religions, genders and ages work together, not in spite of their differences, but completely indifferent to them.
Today, Special Olympics provides sports training and competition in more than 150 countries around the world, giving more than 1.2 million people with mental retardation the chance to strive — and succeed.
Special Olympics also has committed to expanding opportunities for its athletes beyond the playing field and continues to develop initiatives that include education and training programs:
Athlete Leadership Programs
Athlete Leadership Programs (ALPs) enable athletes to learn the skills they need to become public speakers, coaches, Special Olympics officials and Board Members. This culture of athlete leadership has taken root worldwide; virtually every nation, state and province in the world of Special Olympics has elected a person with mental disabilities to their Board of Directors, making a powerful statement that these individuals can contribute at the highest levels of vision and deliberation. Global Messengers, the movement’s athlete spokespersons and most effective communicators, have appeared on television, spoken on the radio and to schools, sponsors and supporters, precipitating calls to action to new athletes, coaches, volunteers and sponsors. Athlete Leadership Programs recently instituted an ALPs Certificate Program that standardizes courses of study to certify athletes in progressive stages, leading to the ALPs Expert Certificate.
Healthy Athletes™
Through Special Olympics Healthy Athletes, more than 100,000 athletes have received screenings for vision, dental, hearing, nutritional and orthopedic needs since 1999. The initiative also lobbies health professionals and policymakers to address the health care industry’s pattern of exclusion, indifference and failure in treating individuals with mental retardation. The U.S. Surgeon General issued a report in 2002, “Closing the Gap: A National Blueprint to Improve the Health of Persons with Mental Retardation,” which addressed the health care neglect experienced by nearly 7 million persons with mental retardation throughout the United States. The impetus for the report came at the 2001 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Alaska, when a Special Olympics report on “The Health Status and Needs of Individuals with Mental Retardation” was presented at a U.S. Senate Committee hearing. Most recently, at the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Ireland, Special Olympics released results from an unprecedented two-year research study, the “Multinational Study of Attitudes toward Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities,” at a scientific symposium in Belfast.
Special Olympics Get Into It™
Special Olympics Get Into It is a free curriculum that provides K–12 teachers with materials to teach all students to appreciate the uniqueness and gifts of every person, no matter his or her ability. This year, the curriculum will be taught in 17,500 schools in 51 countries-reaching 750,000 students with the message of acceptance and inclusion, so important to breaking down barriers that keep people with mental retardation isolated from their peers. The first Global Youth Summit was held at the 2001 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Alaska and broadcast on television, introducing a new spirit of understanding between young athletes and their non-disabled peers.
Family Support Network
The Special Olympics Family Support Network provides a resource for information and firsthand advice to family and friends of people with mental retardation, welcoming them into a supportive community of people with common concerns, and providing them with hope and a glimpse of a bright future ahead. Through Kim Samuel Johnson and the Samuel Family Foundation, Special Olympics Programs around the world have applied for seed grants to develop strong Family Support Networks.
Invest in a Life
Invest in a Life, a powerful new call to action for donors to assist Special Olympics in reaching its goal of adding 1 million new athletes by 2005, was launched in April.
Just the Beginning...
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Then and now...Striving for your personal best has always been an emphasis of the movement. Above, Special Olympics Israel athletes exult at a medal ceremony in 1983, the year Special Olympics commemorated its 15th anniversary. Below, Special Olympics Switzerland's 4 X 50 meter freestyle relay team at the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games. [Top photo, Special Olympics archives. Bottom, Brendan Moran, IRELAND OUT] |
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Special Olympics used to think that athletes had a lot to learn from the world. It now knows that the world can learn a lot from the striving, inclusive, celebratory example set by the athletes and those who support and cheer them on. More nations than ever before are recognizing the need for Special Olympics, which is why the movement is working to double its reach by recruiting 1 million more athletes by 2005.
Mike Stone, of Greensboro, North Carolina, USA, was 18 when he first ventured on a plane to Chicago for the inaugural Games. Stone was one in a delegation of six athletes from the state to compete at Soldier Field. At 53, Stone shows no signs of slowing down, competing in nine sports and serving as a bocce coach while holding down a job at the United States Postal Service and owning a disc jockey service. Stone has competed in four Special Olympics World Games, netting a bronze in the softball throw. He is involved with Athlete Leadership Programs, speaks on behalf of the movement and is trying to start a Special Olympics Unified Sports® program in his hometown.
“I remember the city [Chicago] was big. It was my first time getting on a plane; I was scared to death, I never rode on one in my life. [The Games] felt good because I was competing in the 50-yard dash and the softball throw for the first time ever,” said Stone. “I am still competing and it’s breaking down barriers. It’s showing the world what athletes can do.”
In June, on the eve of Special Olympics 35th Anniversary, the movement held its 11th Special Olympics World Summer Games in Dublin, Ireland, with 7,000 athletes from 150 countries, and a new generation laced up its shoes to compete, helped officiate games and stood at podiums to advocate change. They are leading the next generation of Special Olympics athletes to new milestones, fresh initiatives, acceptance and respect. As Kamna Prem, a non-disabled student from India, said, “Special Olympics athletes are just like us; they aren’t different in any way.”
While Special Olympics’ 35th anniversary celebrates unprecedented growth in the numbers of athletes around the world and the enlightenment of teachers, medical professionals, non-disabled athlete peers and even governments, it’s still just the beginning.
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