Presented by:
Xiaobai’s Story: “Braver and More Confident”
“Traveling to attend the Harbin leadership training was a very valuable experience for me,” says Bai Yanbing, an Athlete Leader from Special Olympics China who lives in the suburbs of Beijing. His nickname is XiaoBai.
“I was able to leave my hometown, see places I had never seen before, and broaden my horizons. I also met many new friends from places like Guangdong and Macau.” He came back more confident, XiaoBai says.
“Confidence is very important. When you have confidence, you dare to act and try new things. During the trip we visited tall buildings and big bridges, attended gatherings, shared stories on stage, and played sports like basketball and bocce. These experiences helped me build strength, accuracy, and teamwork skills.”
XiaoBai had an hours-long journey tolast year’s training in Beijing, simply because the city is so big. The 2025 training voyage was longer still.
Training That Supports A Broad Range Of Leadership Skills
The Special Olympics East Asia Athlete Leadership Training is an annual regional event aimed at educating and empowering Special Olympics athletes to lead the movement. In 2025, the regional training was held in Harbin, China.
Holding the regional training at the university, which is known for aerospace, engineering, technology and robotics, provided the opportunity to introduce leadership team, faculty, staff and university students to Special Olympics and its athlete leaders.
“The school was very supportive of our event. They brought in their students to play Unified Sports game with the athletes. The school’s leadership team, including the President and Vice President, also expressed their full support and commended the event as a strong example of international cooperation,” Rockie says.
Supporting a Broad Range of Leadership Skills
The May 2025 training continued building skills in advocacy and leadership and strengthening and expanding the network of athlete leaders across the region. Athlete leaders and their mentors were very proud to have had the opportunity to study and experience campus life at one of the world’s top higher education institutions. They also received certificates from Harbin Institute of Technology, which may become a meaningful milestone in their lives.
After training, all 40 athletes and their 40 mentors left with storyboards of their Special Olympics journey to take back to their home communities and schools. Many went on to take visible leadership roles: some became sports captains at their schools and others joined local Athlete Leadership councils. All of them left knowing how to confidently speak about how Unified sports, Athlete Leadership and Unified leadership have empowered them.
