The document outlines the goals, history, and structure of the Special Olympics, which promotes sports training and competition for individuals with intellectual disabilities, serving over 3.9 million athletes globally. It details the differences between Special Olympics and similar organizations, highlights the divisioning process for competitions, and provides insights into Special Olympics Bharat, its growth, and unique features. Additionally, it covers the importance of inclusion through unified sports and the social impact of the movement.

1. Special Olympics

2. ORIENTATION GOALS -
1. Understand Special Olympics’ mission
2. Know the differences between Special Olympics
and other sports organizations.
3. Identify the three principal factors in Divisioning
4. Understand athlete advancement
5. Know the opportunities for volunteering

3. Special Olympics Movement
• 3.9 million athletes worldwide, out of 190
Million
• More than 200 programs in 183 countries
• 7 regional offices
• 30 Olympic type summer and winter sports
• Approximately 900,000 volunteers worldwide
• More than 250,000 coaches
• More than 40,000 competitions around the
world each year
• World Games quadrennial system

4. Special Olympics History
The Special Olympics movement started in
20th July 1968, when the First International
Special Olympics Games held at Soldier
Field, Chicago, USA.
But the concept of Special Olympics was
born much earlier, when Eunice Kennedy
Shriver in June 1962, invited 35 boys and
girls with intellectual disabilities to Camp
Shriver, a day camp at Timber lawn, her home
in Rockville, to explore their capabilities in a
variety of sports and physical activities.
4

5. Special Olympics Mission
The mission of Special Olympics is to
provide year-round sports training and
athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-
type sports for persons eight years of age
and older with intellectual disabilities, giving
them continuing opportunities to develop
physical fitness, demonstrate courage,
experience joy and participate in a sharing of
gifts, skills and friendship with their families,
other Special Olympics athletes, and the
5
community.

6. Special Olympics Vision
Special Olympics is an
unprecedented global movement
which, through quality sports
training and competition,
improves the lives of people
with intellectual disabilities and, in
turn, the lives of everyone they
touch.

7. Agreement with the
International Olympic
Committee
Special Olympics is formally recognized by the
IOC.
Special Olympics is the only organization permitted
to use the word “Olympics” in its title.
The Olympic and Special Olympics have similar
Opening Ceremonies, Closing Ceremonies and
Award Ceremonies

8. DIFFERENCES FROM PARALYMPICS AND
INAS –
WHAT MAKES SPECIAL OLYMPICS SPECIAL
INAS
Special Olympics Paralympics
• All athletes have Athletes have an • Mostly serves athletes
an intellectual intellectual with physical
disability disability disabilities. Some
athletes may have an
• Opportunities for Only for elite intellectual disability
all ability levels athletes
• Only for elite athletes
Awards for top • Awards for top three
• Awards for all three finishers finishers
athletes
• Only the best in an
Only the best in
• Random selection event go to the next
an event go to the level of competition
to next level of next level of
competition
competition

9. SPORTS
SUMMER SPORTS WINTER SPORTS
Aquatics
Alpine Skiing
Athletics
Cross Country Skiing
Basketball
Bocce Floor Hockey
Bowling Figure Skating
Cricket Speed Skating
Cycling Snow Shoeing
Equestrian Snow Boarding
Football
Golf
NATIONALLY POPULAR
Artistic Gymnastics SPORTS
Rhythmic Gymnastics Netball
Power lifting Badminton
Roller Skating Sailing
Softball Team Handball
Table Tennis Kabbadi
Tennis Mountain Climbing?
Volleyball Kho Kho

10. Meaning of Logo
Athlete
Volunteer
Family
Coach
Board member Organizer
Sponsor Register tread mark

11. THE ATHLETE
children & adults
with
an intellectual
disability

12. SPORTS TRAINING & COMPETITION
Opportunities for
all interests and
all skill levels

13. Initiatives
• Young Athlete
• Athlete Leadership Program
• Healthy Athlete
• SO Get Into It
• Unified Sports
• Family Forum
• Project UNIFY
• Youth Activation

14. Special Olympics Divisioning
Special Olympics organize its
competition so that, wherever
possible, athletes compete against
others of similar ability. This
process is called Divisioning.
14

15. DIVISIONING
•Provide all
competitors a chance
to excel
• No more than 8 athletes or
teams per division
• Grouped by age, gender
and ability

16. DIVISIONING
1.GENDER
2.AGE
3.ABILITY

17. GENDER:
Male, Female or Combined
(under some circumstances)
17

18. AGE GROUP:
Individual Sports Team Sports
08 – 11 below 15
12 – 15 16 – 21
16 – 21 22 – 29
22 – 29 30 +
30+
18

19. COMBINING GROUPS:
• Age groups and/or
males and females may be
combined if this achieves
a closer matching of
ability.
• The minimum number
of athletes or teams in a
division is 3 and maximum
is 8. 19

20. Unified Sports
Unified Sports  is a program in
which athletes with and without
disability (partners) play together for
both training and competition.
This is becoming a most popular
instrument for Inclusion and
Mainstreaming

21. AWARDS FOR ALL
• All athletes who
participate receive
awards.
• Athletes are given
awards based on order
of finish - first through
8th place.

22. History of Special Olympics Bharat
Special Olympics Movement started in 1988
in India with a 2000 athletes. Special
Olympics Bharat formed under the leadership
of Air Marshal (Retd.) Denzil Keelor and
registered under the Indian Trust Act on 19th
July 2001. It was immediately accredited by
Special Olympics International as the
National Special Olympics Program for India.
The same time, all the sub- programs of the
states were freshly registered and accredited
by Special Olympics Bharat. 22

23. Unique features of
Special Olympics Bharat
• Special Olympics Bharat recognize as a National Sports
Federation by Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports
• Multiple disciplined covering 25 sports and growing
• Serving both male and female athletes
• Established in 35 states & UT’s covering more than 600 districts
• Focused in rural area
• Second largest Program in the world
• Volunteer driven
• No fees charge to participate
• Based on respect, acceptance, inclusion & human dignity
• Providing social change and building communities on ability basis
• Empowering athletes and providing opportunities to excel
• Helping athletes to improve health
• Supporting families and youth

24. Special Olympics Bharat
AN OVERVIEW OF SPECIAL OLYMPICS BHARAT
31 DECEMBER 2010
31 STATES
SPORTS PROGRAM
OFFERED
ASSAM
ARUNACHAL
PRADESH
ANDHRA PRADESH
BIHAR
AQUATICS CHANDIGARH
ATHLETICS CHATTISGARH
BADMINTON DELHI
BASKETBALL GOA
BOCCE GUJARAT
CRICKET HARYANA
CYCLING HIMACHAL
HANDBALL PRADESH
POWERLIFTING JHARKHAND
ROLLER SKATING JAMMU & KASHMIR
SOCCER KARNATAKA
TABLE TENNIS KERALA
VOLLEYBALL MADHYA
FLOOR HOCKEY MAHARASHTRA
ALPINE SKIING MANIPUR
SNOW SHOEING MIZORAM
SPEED SKATING MEGHALAYA
SNOWBOARDING NAGALAND
FIGURE SKATING ORISSA
KHO-KHO PUNJAB
KHABADI PONDICHERRY
Current Status: Over 750234 Athletes, 45000 Coaches,
RAJASTHAN
1759 Trainers, 73948 Volunteers, 77542 Families SIKKIM
TRIPURA
TARGET 2011 ; 850,000 Athletes TAMIL NADU
UTTARAKHAND
UTTAR PRADESH
WEST BENGAL

25. Special Olympics Bharat at
Special
World Level
Coaches
Officials
Athletes
Bronze
Silver
Gold
Olympics
Summer World
Year Games Venue Dates Remarks
1st Summer July 19- Only USA and Canada
1968 Games Chicago, USA 20 Not Participated took part
2nd Summer August 50 USA states include
1970 Games Chicago, USA 13-15 Not Participated France and Puerto Rice
3rd Summer August
1972 Games Los Angles, USA 13-18 Not Participated
4th Summer August
1975 Games Michigan, USA 7-11 Not Participated 10 Country participated
5th Summer August
1979 Games Brookport, USA 8-13 Not Participated 20 Country participated
6th Summer Balon Rouge, July 12-
1983 Games USA 18 Not Participated
7th Summer Jul 31-
1987 Games Indiana, USA Aug 8 11 3 0 4 6 8 70 country participated
8th Summer July 19-
1991 Games Minnesota, USA 27 25 5 0 20 10 2 100 country participated
9th Summer Connecticut, 143 Country participated
1995 Games USA July 1-9 72 0 0 28 20 10 in 21 games
10th Summer North Carillon, Jun 30- 150 Country participated
1999 Games USA Jul 10 19 1 1 25 45 37 in 21 Games
11th Summer Jun 21- 150 Country participated
2003 Games Dublin, Ireland 30 81 20 2 34 36 40 in 21 Games
12 Summer 2-11 Oct
2007 Games - China 07 139 42 3 36 45 67

26. Performance at World
Winter Games
Coaches
Athletes
Official
Bronze
Silver
Gold
Special Olympics
Winter World
Year Games Venue Dates Remarks
1977 1st Winter Games Colorado,USA February 5-11 Not Participated Only USA and Canada took part
1981 2nd Winter Games Balon Rouge,USA July 12-18 Not Participated
14 country participated in Skiing
1985 3rd Winter Games Utah, USA March 24-29 Not Participated and skating
1989 4th Winter Games California, USA April 1-8 Not Participated
1993 5th Winter Games Schladming,Austria March 20-27 12 5 0 1 0 0 50 Country participated
0
1997 6th Winter Games Toronto, Canada February 1-8 0 0 0 0 0 73 Country participated
2001 7th Winter Games Alaska, USA March 4-11 12 5 1 0 0 1 80 Country participated
2005 8th Winter Games Nagano, Japan 26 Feb- 5 Mar 16 3 3 0 0 0 5th place, Floor Hockey
2009 9th Winter Games Idaho, USA 03-12 Feb 09 49 13 2 7 8 2 17 Medals won

27. Special Olympics Athlete’s
Oath
"Let me win,
But if I cannot win,
Let me be brave
in the attempt."

28. MYTHS - KNOW THE TRUTH
Myth Truth
Only for kids For all ages
Only for low ability levels Opportunities for all ability levels
All Down syndrome athletes. Athletes with an intellectual disability
For all disabilities Only athletes with an intellectual disability
Same as Paralympics Special Olympics very different
Just competition Year-round training
Just track and field Opportunities in many sports
Everyone wins Only one gold medal per division
Winning isn’t important Special Olympics athletes want to win