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On 20 July 1968, at the First International Special Olympics Games, Chicago (Illinois, USA ) Mayor Richard Daley said to Special Olympics Founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, "You know, Eunice, the world will never be the same after this." Today it is clearer than ever just how perceptive Daley was.
In 1968, 1,000 people with intellectual disabilities from the United States and Canada competed in athletics, aquatics and floor hockey. At the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, more than 1,800 athletes from more than 80 countries competed in seven winter sports. At the 2003 World Summer Games in Dublin, Ireland, 7,000 athletes from more than 150 countries competed in 18 official sports and three exhibition sports. In 2007, the Special Olympics movement will hold its World Summer Games in Shanghai, China, and in 2009, the World Winter Games will take place in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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On 26 February 2005, Eunice Kennedy Shriver (red coat) joined Special Olympics athletes and members of the Games Organizing Committee at Opening Ceremonies for the 2005 World Winter Games in Nagano, Japan. (Photo by Yo Nagaya/PHOTO KISHIMOTO) |
When Shriver addressed the Chicago Special Olympics (the First International Games) in 1968, she announced a sports program for people with intellectual disabilities everywhere. What had begun as a summer day camp in 1962 at her home in Maryland was about to become the Special Olympics movement. Thirty-seven years later, more than 1.73 million athletes train and compete in 150 countries around the world, participating in 20,000 events each year.
In recognition of Special Olympics' 37th anniversary, U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-Rhode Island) offered his congratulations to the movement from the floor of the U.S. Congress.
The world has changed in many other ways since those first Games. In 1968, many people were ignorant or even fearful of people with intellectual disabilities, believing them incapable of developing or accomplishing anything in life. Today, Special Olympics has helped create a global community of inclusion and acceptance, where differences are celebrated rather than shunned, and where the opportunities for empowerment, growth and achievement are unlimited.
Athletes now serve on the Boards of Directors of all Special Olympics Programs as well as the international Board, setting direction and priorities for their movement. They officiate at competitions and coach other athletes. They live independently, attend school and hold jobs in the communities where they live.
In recent years Special Olympics has emerged as a worldwide leader, not only in action, but in research and understanding. The movement is committed to documenting the barriers to inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities and to challenging negative attitudes and stereotypes. Major research studies commissioned by Special Olympics have documented the need for urgent attention to the concerns and potential of people with intellectual disabilities. Armed with that information, Special Olympics is helping change stigmatizing attitudes and promote acceptance and understanding.
| Meet Tomoya Takue and other inspirational Special Olympics competitors at the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games. |
"I'm usually a follower, but Special Olympics has helped me become a leader," said Tomoya Takue, captain of one of Special Olympics Japan's floor hockey teams at the 2005 World Winter Games. "As team captain, I can't spend time being discouraged if we lose. It's important for me to encourage everyone. I like being a mentor for my teammates."
Mayor Daley was right. Special Olympics has changed, and is continuing to change, the world. To learn more, contact your local Special Olympics Program. |
