Special Olympics

Matrix Report

Special 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 nor in conjunction with the Olympic Games.

The Special Olympics World Games is a major event put on by the Special Olympics committee. The first games were held on July 20, 1968, in Chicago, Illinois, with about 1000 athletes from the U.S. and Canada.

In 2003, the first summer games held outside the United States were in Dublin, Ireland with 7000 athletes from 150 countries. The most recent World Summer Games were held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, from March 14 to 21, 2019. This was the first Special Olympics World Games to be held in the Middle East. The next World Summer Games will be held in Berlin, Germany, between June 16 to 25, 2023. This will be the first time for Germany to host the Special Olympics World Games.

People with intellectual disabilities are encouraged to join Special Olympics for the physical activity, which helps lower the rate of cardiovascular disease and obesity, among other health benefits. Also, they gain many emotional and psychological benefits, including self-confidence, social competence, building greater athletic skills and higher self-esteem. Exercise has also been shown to be related to a decrease in anxiety levels amongst people with intellectual disabilities.

In 1968, track and field, swimming and floor hockey were the first three official sports offered by Special Olympics. As in the Olympics, events are introduced in training and then added to the competitive schedule, and from there the list of sports and events continued to grow.

A key difference between Special Olympics competitions and those of other sports organizations is that athletes of all ability levels are encouraged to participate. Competitions are structured so that athletes compete with other athletes of similar ability in equitable divisions.

Special Olympics has more than 30 Olympic-type individual and team sports that provide meaningful training and competition opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities. As of 2016, these are:

Other sports and sports-related programs include the Motor Activity Training Program and Beach Volleyball. Availability of sports can depend on location and season.