Special Olympics
This article needs to be updated. (March 2019) |
Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. It provides year-round training and competitions to more than 4.4 million athletes in 193 countries. Special Olympics competitions are held every day, all around the world. This includes local, national and regional competitions. Combined they add up to more than 70,000 events a year.
| Founded | July 20, 1968 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Eunice Kennedy Shriver |
| Location |
|
| Origins | Camp Shriver |
Area served | International |
Official language | English and the host country's official language when necessary |
Key people | Timothy Shriver (Chairman of the Board) Mary Davis (Chief Executive Officer) William P. Alford (Lead Director & Vice Chair) Angelo Moratti (Vice Chair) Loretta Claiborne (Vice Chair) Michelle Kwan (Treasurer)[1] |
| Website | Official website |
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These competitions include the Special Olympics World Games. These alternate between summer and winter games. Special Olympics World Games are held every four years. The most recent World Summer Games were the Special Olympics World Summer Games, held in Athens, Greece (The birthplace of the modern Olympic Games). They ran from June 25, 2011 to July 4, 2011.[2] The next summer games will be held in Los Angeles beginning Saturday, July 25 and ending on August 2, 2015.[3] The Flame of Hope is the symbol of the Special Olympics.[4] It was lit on May 14, 2015 at the Pnyx in Athens, Greece. That began the journey to the World Games. The torch remains lit until the end of the Games on August, 2.
Next Specialolympics will be held in Canada in 2024 in winters
References
change- ↑ "Special Olympics Board of Directors". specialolympics.org. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
- ↑ "2011 Special Olympics Summer Games". The Atlantic Photo. July 12, 2011.
- ↑ "2015 Special Olympics World Games Partners with Herbalife". Business Wire. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- ↑ WSLS.com Staff (30 June 2015). "Blacksburg native to carry the 'Flame of Hope' for 2015 Special Olympics World Games". WSLS-10. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
