Although local Special Olympics events and competitions are held around the worldevery day, the World Games are flagship events. The goal is to showcase the skills and accomplishments of people with intellectual disabilities on a global stage. The World Games feature more than a week of competitions involving thousands of athletes. Through media coverage of the Games, the stories and achievements of children and adults with intellectual disabilities are made known to millions of people worldwide. Special Olympics World Games take place every two years and alternate between Summer and Winter Games, a schedule similar to the Olympics and Paralympics. Attracting as many as 350,000 volunteers and coaches, plus several thousands of athletes, these World Games can be the world's largest sporting event of the year. Special Olympics athletes can compete in 32 Olympic-style summer or winter sports. The athletes are adults and children with intellectual disabilities who can range from gifted, world-class competitors to average athletes to those with limited physical ability. It's a fundamental rule of Special Olympics competitions that athletes are matched up according to their ability and age. This “divisioning” process is an effort to make every competition fair, competitive and exciting for athletes as well as fans.
History
The first International Special Olympics Summer Games were held in Chicago, Illinois, US, in 1968, while the first International Special Olympics Winter Games were held in February 1977 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, US. In 1991, the name was officially changed from International Special Olympics Summer/Winter Games to Special Olympics World Summer/Winter Games. In 2011, Special Olympics World Summer Games were held on June 25 – July 4 in Athens, Greece, involving 6,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities from 170 countries. In 2013, the Special Olympics World Winter Games were held in PyeongChang, South Korea from Jan. 29 – Feb. 5.The Host Town program, in which families host Special Olympics athletes from around the world to help them acclimate to the host country and customs, began on Jan. 26, 2013. In 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games. These games were the first Special Olympics World Summer Games held in the United States in 16 years since the 1999 Summer Games held in Raleigh, North Carolina. In 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Graz and Schladming in Styria, Austria. This marked a return: Salzburg and Schladming, Austria hosted the fifth Special Olympics World Winter Games in 1993. These were the first Special Olympics World Games held outside the United States. The 2017 World Winter Games were held on March 14–25, 2017. Kazan, Russia will host the next World Winter Games between, January 22–28 2022. Originally to be held in Åre and Östersund, Sweden however the Swedish Government withdrawn it hosting rights in December 2019 due to financial problems. The recent Special Olympics World Summer Games were held March 14–21, 2019 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. These were the first Special Olympics World Games to be held in the Middle East/North Africa region. Competitions were held in 24 sports. Berlin, Germany will host the next World Summer Games between June 16–25, 2023. It will mark the first time that Germany has ever hosted the Special Olympics World Games.
Hosts
1Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, was originally selected to host the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games. Due to financial problems and the constant delay in reconstruction of the venues of the 1984 Winter Olympics, the city gave up hosting the Games, and Boise, Idaho,was invited to host the event. 2 It was planned that Åre and Östersund, Sweden would host the 2021 World Winter Games between February 2 to 13, 2021. However, on December 20, 2019, it was announced that the Swedish Paralympic Committee vetoed the necessary financing for the continuity of the event in the country,invalidating a promise made during the bid process, Special Olympics studied to delay the event to 2022 after the new host city can find with the little time for its realization. Kazan, Russia was invited to host the event on June 29, 2020.
