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We are helping to make the world a better, healthier and more joyful place—one athlete, one volunteer, one family member at a time.
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Search Results

There are 6,173 results that match your search. There are 6,173 results that match your search.
Tributes

A Letter from Oprah Winfrey

Eunice Shriver lived as a champion, and I admired her so much.
Tributes

A Letter from Kevin M. Farr

Thank you, Eunice, for your tireless efforts which have made this world a better place for each and every one of us.
Tributes

A Letter from Taoiseach Brian Cowen

Her inspiration and drive will live on - in athletes, in volunteers, in parents and in all who knew her.
Videos

25 years of Special Olympics European Football Week #EFW2025

25 years of Special Olympics European Football Week #EFW2025
For 25 years, Special Olympics European Football Week has united people across 50+ nations through the power of sport. Join us as we celebrate the magnificent players, coaches, and communities who continue to redefine what’s possible. Here’s to the power of the beautiful game to transform lives.
Europe Eurasia Stories

Special Olympics European Football Week - Power of Partnerships #EFW2026

Special Olympics European Football Week - Power of Partnerships #EFW2026
Special Olympics European Football Week 2026 is finally here! In its 26th edition, #EFW celebrates the power of partnerships and how open collaboration with our partners helps us expand and improve our football offer throughout Europe and Eurasia. This year, over 300 events are to take place in 40 countries across our region: celebrate #EFW2026 with us!
Programs

North America Region

A group of six male runners running on a track with spectators in the background.
North America has over half a million athletes participating in all 32 sports offered by Special Olympics. It is home to athletes from Canada, the Caribbean and the United States. Special Olympics is dedicated to empowering individuals with intellectual disabilities to become physically fit, productive and respected members of society through sports training and competition.

Programs

Seychelles

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Special Olympics is a global organization with that serves with intellectual disabilities working with hundreds of thousands of volunteers and coaches. Since 1968, the number of people with and without intellectual disabilities who are involved with Special Olympics has been growing, but the unmet need to reach more people with intellectual disabilities is staggering.

It’s at the local level—right here—where interested volunteers meet the athletes. That’s where the perceptions start to change and where the miracle of transformation takes place.

Special Olympics provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Those activities give them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship.

Take the Quiz: Test your Special Olympics history knowledge!

Thanks to Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the founder of Special Olympics and a pioneer for inclusion, the world has changed drastically for people with intellectual disabilities (ID) throughout the last century. Take the quiz to see how much you know about Special Olympics history.
50 Game Changers Espanol

Dr. Steve Perlman

Dr. Perlman standing next to a young man and both are smiling.
En los 90s, el doctor Steve Perlman y Eunice Kennedy Shriver se reunieron en Washington, DC, para conversar acerca de la falta de acceso a servicios de salud para las personas con discapacidad intelectual, que a menudo se les negaba tratamiento por doctores y sistemas de salud.
In the News

Berlin, Germany Set to Host Special Olympics World Games 2023

A swimmer with a blue swim cap coming out of the water and giving a thumbs up.
Excitement was in the air as Berlin, Germany officially became the host for the next Special Olympics World Games in 2023.
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