Stories

Twenty-three young leaders with and without intellectual disabilities from across the Middle East/North Africa representing North Africa Programs came together in Tunisia, Sousse from June 16 – 21 for the 11th Special Olympics Middle East/North Africa Youth Leadership Summit.

A new paper from Special Olympics was published in the American Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities titled, Navigating the Complexities of Developing a Longitudinal Health Evaluation: Creating Special Olympics Project ALL STAR.

Athletes with intellectual disabilities will compete within an IJF world-level framework as part of Sarajevo’s World Judo Championships Veterans and Kata programme.

Veo recently featured a story showcasing how access to live-streamed matches helped supporters around the world stay connected to the Special Olympics Unified Football World Cup, held in Paris from 6 to 11 July.

More than 100 athletes took part in a landmark Motor Activity Training Program (MATP) demonstration in Malta last week. The activity took place ahead of the Special Olympics European Swimming Open, 10 to 14 September. The event marked one of the most highly attended MATP demonstrations globally and the largest staged in Europe this year, underscoring Malta’s leadership in creating meaningful sport opportunities for athletes with high support needs.

More than 200 people from around the world came together for Sibling Voices, a global webinar hosted by Special Olympics in partnership with the Sibling Leadership Network and the Sibling Support Project, to talk about something that is deeply personal, yet often goes unheard, what it means to be a sibling of a person with an intellectual disability.

With just over a year to go until the Special Olympics World Games Santiago 2027, Special Olympics is preparing the high-level team of Technical Delegates (TD) who will be deployed in Santiago across the Games’ 22 sports to uphold and maintain the organization’s high competition standards in order to have meaningful, competitive, and fair competition across all athletes competing.

Mercedes Navarro Puig and Maciej Fran were among nine Toyota Motor Europe (TME) volunteers who travelled to Malmö to lend their time, energy and skills to the Special Olympics Sweden Invitational Games 2026. They reflect on the power of the experience and the impact of volunteering with Special Olympics.

The Special Olympics Sweden Invitational Games 2026, which concluded on Sunday, is yet another flagship event in our region that Toyota Motor Europe (TME) has put considerable support behind.

Malta to welcome athletes from across Europe and beyond for a major international swimming event from 10 to 14 September 2026

With support from Optometry Giving Sight, three trainees from Special Olympics Nevada, Tennessee, and Florida completed a Clinical Director Train-the-Trainer program at the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games from 18-20 June in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The Special Olympics Sweden Invitational Games 2026 will be officially opened in Folkets Park, Malmö, marking the largest sporting event ever held in Sweden for people with intellectual disabilities.