Our Athletes
Athletes are the heart of Special Olympics. Our athletes are children and adults with intellectual disabilities from all around the world—5.6 million and counting! They are finding success, joy and friendship as part of our global community. They're also having lots of fun!
Why is it so hard to have to stay home when you are used to getting out and about, riding the metro, and feeling a sense of freedom? Because of COVID-19, we are staying home so that we can protect those who are vulnerable to the disease. We are all so used to being active, outgoing, human beings, by being at home, we are losing that.
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Help Our Athletes Break Barriers To Create a More Inclusive World
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One of my teachers said that through art I could communicate with my fellow students. When we would have art classes I felt relaxed and included.
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Staying Fit at Home can be FUN with BINGO! The board is filled with links to workouts and other exciting activities. Each week, we challenge you to fill out the ENTIRE board and have fun while doing it.
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Special Olympics Gibraltar athlete Francis Mauro has courageously volunteered to continue working as a Messenger on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis at a hospital in Gibraltar.
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Last February, a group of basketball players from Special Olympics Lithuania had a ‘once in a lifetime’ experience—they participated in workshops at the top basketball club in the country, Zalgiris Kaunas!
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Loretta Claiborne was born the middle of seven children in a poor, single-parent family in York, Pennsylvania. Partially blind and with intellectual disabilities, she was unable to walk or talk until four-years-old. Today, Claiborne is an accomplished athlete, motivational speaker, member of the Special Olympics International Board of Directors, and Chief Inspiration Officer for Special Olympics.
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Alison Smith, Special Olympics Connecticut athlete, recently interviewed her long-time friend Kenny Mayne, Anchor on ESPN’s SportsCenter.” They discussed keeping positive while staying home due to the spread of COVID-19/coronavirus.
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This world right now is going through a once in a lifetime event, that has put us on the brink. Yet through that, a unique organisation has some very powerful yet simple messages coming from an even more unique group of people who have never been on the global radar.
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Looking to recording an interesting podcast that keeps people’s attention? Award-winning and veteran podcaster, Dan Smrokowski (Special Olympics Illinois) offers these tips on how to create compelling content for audio and video podcasts.
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It's the most exciting time of year for all who are involved. Each year at the beginning of June, hundreds of Special Olympics Maryland athletes gather at Towson University just outside Baltimore City, ahead of the annual Summer Games.
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Though social distancing during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is keeping most people indoors, on Earth Day we embrace nature and are grateful for those times when we’re able to exercise outdoors.
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