Sports

Ten years ago, pro-golfer Padraig Harrington joined Special Olympics as a Global Ambassador and has remained a constant presences ever since.

Chris Nikic—the first person with Down syndrome to complete a full IRONMAN®—leads star pack

Special Olympics Europe Eurasia has today—on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities—announced that the first ever European Unified Youth Basketball Tournament will take place in Sansepolcro, Italy in October 2021.

Three years ago, Li Xiuming began training short track speed skaters with intellectual disabilities in Shanghai, China.

Badminton World Federation (BWF) in collaboration with Special Olympics International (SOI) has published their Global Development Strategy to grow badminton and provide meaningful opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities to be involved in all aspects of badminton.

As part of an effort to amplify the voice of Special Olympics across the world of sport and fashion, Special Olympics teamed up with the New School’s Parsons School of Design. The class began in January 2020 and was the first time Parsons worked to include people with intellectual disabilities in their curriculum.

I’ve been a Special Olympics North Dakota coach for 32 years. In that time, I’ve had the opportunity to coach athletes in snowshoe, cross-country skiing, bowling, basketball, volleyball, powerlifting, swimming, soccer (football) and athletics.

Special Olympics Chinese Taipei athlete Michael Fan inspired his mother Angela Huang to become an open water swimmer and coach.

Njegoš Mihajlović, athlete leader and Special Olympics medallist has become the first person with intellectual disabilities to enrol in a University in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the beginning of 2008, after attending two years of college, I felt a strong pull towards the military. I was a respectable student, but I wanted to experience something more than what my school could offer. I needed to be a part of something that was bigger than myself and ultimately push me to be a better individual. In July of 2008, I enlisted in the United States Army as part of the Military Police. I completed Basic Combat Training and One Station Unit Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. There, I learned how to be a soldier.