That's right for the first time the Special Olympics is going to be broadcasted on ESPN. If you want to catch any of the action tune into ESPN2 to catch evening broadcasts with highlights and vignettes. The closing ceremony will be shown in a highlight program on 26 March on ABC. If you do not live in the United States, check out the website here to see how you can watch the Special Olympics.
The Special Olympics Movement was founded in the USA by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, President John F. Kennedy's sister, in 1968. She believed that the Olympic ideals of sports could give confidence and hope to those with intellectual disabilities as well as to those who cared for them.
The first International Special Olympics Summer Games were held at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois, USA. They opened on July 20, 1968. A thousand athletes with intellectual disabilities from 26 U.S. states and Canada competed in Track and Field, swimming, and floor hockey. Today the Special Olympics involves over 4 million athletes in more than 170 countries worldwide.
This year the 2017 Olympic Games will be held in Austria and includes figure skating, speed skating, floor hockey, floorball, snowshoeing, alpine skiing, nordic skiing, snowboarding, and stick shooting. These events will be taking place in four cities across Austria; Graz, Schladming, Ramsau, and Styria. Before the events started, the athletes got to tour Austria and go to historic and cultural sites.
Here's the official promo for the 2017 Special Olympics it's pretty cool, be sure to check it out.
In 1981 the Police Cheif of Wichita, Kansas Richard LaMunyon created the Torch Run that would help law enforcement to be active in the community and support Special Olympics Kansas. It was proposed to the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) who decided to endorse them. Today, the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics has become the movement's largest Public Awareness and fundraising group for the Special Olympics. Throughout the past week, police men and women from all over the world have been running in the torch run through the country of Austria. How cool is that?
You should totally check out the last leg of the Law Enforcement Torch Tun.
The most important part of this program is undoubtedly the amazing experience that the athletes get to have. Many of them have never left their home countries and with the Special Olympics, they would probably not get the opportunity to do something like this. Think about it, they get to meet people from all over the world who are just like them and who are interested in similar things.
The athlete motto is, "Let me win, but if I do not win let me be brave in the attempt." This lesson is not just applicable to just Special Olympic athletes or just athletes but are values that everyone everywhere can learn from.
