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Elvis Sutherland, left, Special Olympics St. Vincent and Grenadines Islands in action against Ali Azgor, Special Olympics Bangladesh, during the 100M, Division 57 Preminary Round at the 2003 Special Olympic World Summer Games at Morton Stadium, Dublin, Ireland. [Photo by David Maher, IRELAND OUT]
Narcis Fernandez, Special Olympics Spain, celebrates upon the successful finish of his Level 1 race with his Unified Sports® partner Berta Fernandez during the Squibs racing at the Royal St. George Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Special Olympics Unified Sports® is a program that combines approximately equal numbers of Special Olympics athletes and athletes without mental retardation (called Partners) on sports teams for training and competition. Age and ability matching of athletes and Partners is defined on a sport-by-sport basis. [Photo by Matt Browne, IRELAND OUT]
Ken Hanley, Special Olympics Ireland, in action against Special Olympics France in pool stages of the Basketball competition at the National Basketball Arena. Basketball is so popular that it is being contested at three different venues throughout Dublin. [Photo by Brenda Fitzsimons, IRELAND OUT]
Mei-Yu-Lau of Special Olympics Hong Kong shows perfect form as she approaches the vault during gymnastics competition, which has been one of the overwhelming favorites of the thousands of spectators at the World Games. [Photo by Tom Honan, IRELAND OUT]
Vitasly Glebov of Special Olympics Russia keeps his eye on the shuttlecock during the Badminton Prelims/Finals competition at Baldoyle Badminton Club.
To achieve the goal of 2 million athletes from around the world by the end of 2005, Special Olympics must recruit and train nearly 800,000 new athletes from around the world in the next two and a half years.
Since 2000, Special Olympics has grown by 22%, increasing its athlete count to 1.2 million. [Photo by Colm Mahady, IRELAND OUT]
Special Olympics Uganda's Liinah Bukenya, age 12, demonstrates her starting form before the 50-meter backstroke competition, Division 4. Bukenya won the gold medal in the event, held at the new National Aquatic Centre — one of the top three competition pools in the world. The 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games is the first world-class competition held in the pool. [Photo by Dara Mc Donall, IRELAND OUT]
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Intense concentration is apparent from Special Olympics Italy's Mario Palminteri as he competes in the Bocce singles event.
Bocce can be played as a singles or doubles game, or by teams of four. Players can roll, toss or bounce the ball down the court, provided the ball does not go out of bounds; players may also hit an opponent's ball out of court to obtain a point or decrease the other team's points.
The word bocce is derived from the Latin word for ball, bottia. It's thought the game emerged in Roman times, when soldiers played with stones for amusement. As the game evolved and grew in popularity, balls were eventually substituted for stones. [Photo by Gerry McGuinness, IRELAND OUT]
Alberto Meracado of Special Olympics Venezuela competes during Flight 2 of the powerlifting competition. Powerlifters from 21 countries will compete in two age categories, 16–21, and 21 and over. [Photo by David Maher, IRELAND OUT]
Anton Kristjansson, Special Olympics Iceland, battles against Steven Ford, Team USA in team handball competition. In team handball, the maximum size of a team allowed is 12 players; minimum is 7 players. [Photo by Damien Eagers, IRELAND OUT]
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