Europe Eurasia Stories

The Italian Special Olympics athlete’s life didn’t start out easy. Learn how basketball helped him overcome some challenges.

Martin Nielsen spoke to disability experts during a seminar organized by the Council of Europe and Danish Ministry of Social Affairs.

The December 2017 meeting brought together UNICEF officials, Special Olympics Kosovo staff, teachers, families, coaches and children.

The Special Olympics Serbia athlete has been a star of her local basketball team ever since she first stepped on the basketball court.

George Fitzgerald is no stranger to competition. Read about his path from award winning athlete to coach and official.

Abdullah Najim is a 19-year-old refugee from Iraq. He is also a Special Olympics gold medal winner athlete!

At 40, the Greek athlete has become a very successful Special Olympics swimmer. Learn why that might have been unlikely.

The project, funded by Thierry Henry’s One4All Foundation, has had 71 schools and over 4,200 pupils participate.

As floorball’s popularity grows in our movement across the globe, Dublin played host to a unique Special Olympics coaching seminar.

In Cacak, Serbia the inclusive youth activation committee (YAC) invited hometown heroes who had won the recent Special Olympics European Unified Volleyball tournament in Poland to participate in a come-and-try Unified Volleyball session at a local sports hall. “We thought that the experienced Unified players could inspire current and new Unified Volleyball players to join Special Olympics,” said Nikola Jovicic, (19) one of the four YAC members. “On the volleyball court playing together as equals is where we learn to respect each other," he said. Approximately 50 youth from the local special and mainstream school took part in the event. The YAC, comprised of four youth with and without intellectual disabilities, is one of 10 established in 10 cities in Serbia in a two-year USAID-supported project that aims to foster understanding and inclusion among youth. Using inclusive sports as a platform, youth are given opportunities to learn about and participate in leadership and advocacy.

Special Olympics Albania joined the European Week of Sport for the first time with a fun day held in September 2017.

Special Olympics brought together 40 children for an inclusive Young Athletes event on 29 September 2017 in Pristina.