WSpecial Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 172 countries. Special Olympics competitions are held every day, all around the world—including local, national and regional competitions, adding up to more than 100,000 events a year. Like the International Paralympic Committee, the Special Olympics organization is recognized by the International Olympic Committee; however, unlike the Paralympic Games, Special Olympics World Games are not held in the same year or in conjunction with the Olympic Games.
WThe 1999 Special Olympics World Summer Games were held in Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill in North Carolina, United States between June 26 and July 4, 1999. The events in 19 sports were predominantly held on the campuses of North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina Central University.
WThe 2005 Special Olympics Winter World Games were hosted at Nagano in Nippon and were the first Special Olympics World Games held in Asia. Nagano became the first city in the world to host the Olympics, Paralympics and Special Olympics World Games.
WThe 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games were held in Shanghai, China.
WThe 8th Special Olympics Great Britain National Games were held in Leicester between the 25 and 31 July 2009.
WThe 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games was held in the state of Idaho, USA from February 7 through February 13, 2009.
WThe 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games was a sporting event held from June, 25th 2011 – July, 4th 2011 in Athens, Greece. The opening ceremony of the games took place on 25 June 2011 at the Panathenaic Stadium and the closing ceremony was held on 4 July 2011.
WThe 10th Special Olympics World Winter Games was a Special Olympics, a multi-sports event that was held in Pyeongchang, South Korea from January 29 through February 5, 2013. Though officially allocated to Pyeongchang, events were also held in Gangneung Indoor Ice Rink.
WThe 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games were a multi-sport event for athletes with intellectual disabilities held in Los Angeles, United States from July 25 to August 2, 2015, in the tradition of the Special Olympics movement.
WThe 2017 Special Olympic World Winter Games officially called 11th Special Olympics World Winter Games is a Special Olympics, a multi-sports event that was held in Austria from March 14 through March 25, 2017.
WThe 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games were a special olympics multi-sport event for athletes with intellectual disabilities in the tradition of the Special Olympics movement. It was held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates from March 14–21, 2019. ESPN offered international coverage of the games.
WNadia Elena Comăneci Conner, known professionally as Nadia Comăneci, is a Romanian retired gymnast and a five-time Olympic gold medalist, all in individual events. In 1976 at the age of 14, Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10.0 at the Olympic Games. At the same Games, she received six more perfect 10s for events en route to winning three gold medals. At the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Comăneci won two more gold medals and attained two more perfect 10s. During her career, Comăneci won nine Olympic medals and four World Artistic Gymnastics Championship medals.
WBart Wayne Conner is a retired American Olympic gymnast. As a member of the US men's gymnastics team at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, Conner won two gold medals. He currently owns and operates the Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy in Norman, Oklahoma, along with his wife, Romanian Olympic gold medalist Nadia Comăneci. In addition, both Comăneci and Conner are highly involved with the Special Olympics.
WCrazy Lady! is a children's novel written by Jane Leslie Conly. It was published in 1993 and was one of the Newbery Honor books of 1994.
WMary Anne Davis is an Irish social entrepreneur, activist and long-term campaigner for the rights and inclusion of children and adults with intellectual disabilities. She has been the Chief Executive Officer of Special Olympics International since May 2016. She previously served as Managing Director and Regional President of Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia (SOEE), with the responsibility of overseeing the growth and development of Special Olympics across 58 countries in Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Davis also served as Chairperson of Special Olympics Ireland.
WEstonia team have competed at the Special Olympics World Games since after regaining independence in 1991 and have won over 100 medals at the games.
WMyer Feldman, known as Mike Feldman was an American political aide in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Hailing from Philadelphia, Feldman was a trained lawyer and alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania, which he attended on a scholarship. He served in the Army Air Force during the Second World War prior to joining Kennedy's campaign trail in 1957.
WThe Flame of Hope is the symbol of the Special Olympics Games.
W"Fly" is a song by Canadian singer Avril Lavigne. It was released on April 16, 2015, for digital download by the Special Olympics, Inc. Lavigne released the song as a charity single for The Avril Lavigne Foundation to support the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games. The song was written by Lavigne, Chad Kroeger and David Hodges. All the proceeds from the single will be contributed to the ongoing work being done by the Avril Lavigne Foundation.
WEloísa García Etchegoyhen (1921-1996) was a pioneering Uruguayan educator and disability rights activist. She not only created the first educational facilities in Uruguay to teach those with disabilities, but she developed job placement programs and parent support groups to help children integrate into the larger society. She spearheaded training for teachers and psychologists leading to the creation of research programs into the cause of mental retardation and led a public awareness campaign to encourage acceptance of the disabled by their families and communities. She began the first school for students with multiple disabilities and began the first pre-school for early assessment and intervention for disabled children in Uruguay. She brought the Special Olympics to Uruguay and worked throughout Latin America and the Caribbean for inclusive policies for disabled citizens.
WMichelle Wingshan Kwan is a retired American figure skater. She is a two-time Olympic medalist, a five-time World champion and a nine-time U.S. champion. She is tied with Maribel Vinson for the all-time National Championship record.
WThe Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR) is a campaign to benefit the Special Olympics. It began in 1981 in Wichita, Kansas, and is the largest grass-roots fundraising movement for the Special Olympics.
WMéxico has competed at the Special Olympics World Games 11 times.
WThe Philippines has participated in the Special Olympics World Games several times. The team won nine gold medals in the 2007 games, the most it ever had at that time. They have since surpassed that total during the 2015 games, when the team won a total of 64 medals, including 24 gold.
WThe Ringer is a 2005 American sports comedy starring Johnny Knoxville, Katherine Heigl, and Brian Cox with cameos by Terry Funk and Jesse Ventura. Directed by Barry W. Blaustein, it was produced by the Farrelly brothers. The film was released on December 23, 2005 by Fox Searchlight Pictures.
WPaula Sage is a Scottish actress, Special Olympics netball player, and advocate for people with Down syndrome.
WSusan Saint James is an American actress and activist, most widely known for her work in television during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, especially the detective series McMillan & Wife (1971–1976) and the sitcom Kate & Allie (1984–1989).
WEunice Mary Kennedy Shriver was an American philanthropist and a member of the Kennedy family. She was the founder of the Special Olympics, a sports organization for persons with physical and intellectual disabilities. For her efforts on behalf of the disabled, Shriver was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984.
WRobert Sargent Shriver Jr. was an American diplomat, politician and activist. As the husband of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, he was part of the Kennedy family. Shriver was the driving force behind the creation of the Peace Corps, and founded the Job Corps, Head Start, AmeriCorps, Upward Bound, and other programs as the architect of the 1960s War on Poverty. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for vice president in the 1972 presidential election.
WTimothy Perry Shriver is an American disability rights activist, film producer, and former educator who has been Chairman of Special Olympics since 1996 and currently serves the CEO of UNITE. He is a member of the Kennedy family as the third child of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of the Special Olympics, and Sargent Shriver, who founded the Peace Corps.
WSpecial Olympics Ireland is a sporting organisation for children and adults with intellectual disabilities that operates in the Island of Ireland. It is part of the global Special Olympics movement.
WThe Special Olympics World Games silver dollar is a commemorative silver dollar issued by the United States Mint in 1995.
WA Very Special Christmas is the title of an ongoing series of Christmas music compilation albums that benefit the Special Olympics. It features songs performed by artists from a variety of genres, such as U2, Stevie Nicks, Bon Jovi, Madonna, The Smashing Pumpkins, No Doubt, Whitney Houston, Run–D.M.C., Jason Mraz, Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
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