North America

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.

The final webinar of the 2023 Coach Webinar Series, presented by Gallagher. This webinar was all about being adaptable as a coach and keeping adult athletes engaged in a challenging environment. This webinar was hosted by football referee and Special Olympics Washington Athlete Leader, Garrett Utz. Garrett has officiated at 1 USA Games, 2 Unified Cups, and 2 World Games. Garrett also holds multiple leadership positions and is also an Athlete Advisor for the Sport and Competition team in Special Olympics International. Garrett was joined by Gallagher’s Scott Gregory who sits on the board of Special Olympics Southern California and is an active Special Olympics coach. Thomas Graham from the Newcastle United Foundation gave us an overview of the development of their walking football programme and how this could be applied to Special Olympics contexts. Ken Black, co-founder of the Inclusion Club, then presented on the STEP Model (Space, Task, Equipment, People) and how to adapt your coaching to continually challenge athletes no matter the ability level. To close out the webinar, there was a very passionate and inspiring message from Special Olympics supporter and former US Men’s National Team player and current Vice President of Sporting for US Soccer, Oguchi Onyewu.

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.

Nikilani Rojas of Special Olympics Hawaii is someone who makes things happen by leading others and following through.

Staged under fluorescent lights, an orderly arrangement of turf courts hosts their competition: Special Olympics USA Games bocce athletes and Unified partners, athletes without intellectual disabilities. The courts are identical in nature, with their regulation ball sets, a measuring device, scoreboard and pallino, the target ball players aim to throw closest to in order to score. Only when the athletes enter its confines, does the court begin to change shape, each containing a story of unwavering focus, of overcoming.

Special Olympics Colorado athlete Jeremiah Daniels talks about his role in the movie Color Book streaming on Netflix.

The past few weeks have been a busy and exciting time for the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Foundation and Special Olympics, with tennis clinics bringing athletes together with grand slam champions and top ten WTA players during the North American tennis swing.

[WASHINGTON, D.C. - 13 August 2026] Today, Special Olympics and Topgolf announced an expanded three-year, $1.5 million commitment to grow inclusive golf opportunities for athletes with intellectual disabilities worldwide.

In Minnesota, about 13,000 volunteers filled around 19,000 shifts during the USA Games.

The Special Olympics Caribbean Regional Beach Games Jamaica 2026 are just around the corner!