our story The Mission of Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults 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 our story athletes and the community. Special Olympics Through the Years June 1963 June 1981 July 1988 Eunice Kennedy Shriver begins a summer day The Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Special Olympics Unified Sports® is launched camp at her home in Maryland for children Olympics is launched in Wichita, Kansas, at the annual Special Olympics Conference with intellectual disabilities to realize their USA, after Police Chief Richard LaMunyon in Reno, Nevada, and Lake Tahoe, California. capabilities in sports and physical activities. saw an urgent need to raise awareness for Athletes with and without intellectual disabilities Special Olympics. The Torch Run is now the compete side-by-side in bowling, volleyball Movement’s largest grassroots fundraiser, and softball. July 1968 raising nearly $40 million annually. The first International Special Olympics Summer Games are held at Soldier Field in March 1993 Chicago, Illinois, USA. A thousand individuals September 1986 The Fifth Special Olympics World Winter Games with intellectual disabilities from 26 states The United Nations in New York City launches the are hosted in the Austrian cities of Salzburg and and Canada compete in track and field International Year of Special Olympics under the Schladming, the first World Winter Games held and swimming. banner “Special Olympics—Uniting the World.” outside North America. December 1971 October 1987 July 1995 The U.S. Olympic Committee gives Special “A Very Special Christmas,” a benefit album A number of new initiatives make their debut Olympics official approval to use the name featuring holiday music by top performers is at the Ninth Special Olympics World Summer “Olympics” in the United States. released worldwide. Produced by Jimmy and Games in New Haven, Connecticut, including Vicki Iovine of A&M Records and Bobby Shriver, the Host Town Program, Healthy Athletes® and all proceeds benefit Special Olympics. More Research and Policy Symposia. For the first February 1977 than two million records, compact discs and time, individuals with intellectual disabilities Steamboat Springs, Colorado, hosts the first cassette tapes are sold. serve as certified sports officials. International Special Olympics Winter Games, with more than 500 athletes competing in skiing and skating events. U.S. television networks February 1988 July 1997 CBS, ABC and NBC cover the Games. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) signs Healthy Athletes® becomes an official Special an historic agreement with Sargent and Eunice Olympics initiative, providing health care Kennedy Shriver, in which the IOC officially services to Special Olympics athletes worldwide. endorses and recognizes Special Olympics. The program includes free vision, hearing and dental screenings; injury prevention clinics and nutrition education. Special Olympics Through the Years July 1998 July 2001 June 2003 Special Olympics celebrates its 30th anniversary The South African cities of Cape Town, Special Olympics releases “The Multinational with the introduction of the Special Olympics Johannesburg and Sun City host Special Olympics Study of Attitudes toward Individuals with Sargent Shriver International Global Messengers, African Hope. President Nelson Mandela returns Intellectual Disabilities,” a report on how people 12 athletes who travel the world as spokespeople to Robben Island with Special Olympics athletes across the world view the roles and capabilities for the Movement. to light the “Flame of Hope” and kick off the Law of persons with intellectual disabilities in the Enforcement Torch Run® through the streets of workplace, classroom and in daily life. The study Cape Town. The event generates awareness is the most comprehensive ever conducted December 1998 of the Movement throughout the continent on this subject. U.S. President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary and launches a major growth initiative to reach Clinton host “A Very Special Christmas from 100,000 new athletes in Africa by 2005. Washington D.C.”—marking the first time that the October 2004 White House hosts a Special Olympics gala and U.S. President George W. Bush signs the the first time that artists from the “A Very Special May 2002 “Special Olympics Sport and Empowerment Christmas” album series gather together to Special Olympics develops and distributes the Act,” which authorizes $15 million per year over perform. In 2000, President and Mrs. Clinton host SO Get Into It™ curriculum for students with and five years to fund the growth of Special Olympics “A Very Special Christmas” for the second time. without disabilities to schools and teachers and support initiatives that foster greater respect worldwide at no cost. The curriculum teaches and understanding for people with intellectual young people about intellectual disabilities while disabilities. The signing of the bill marks the first May 2000 empowering them to “be the difference” by learn- time that Special Olympics secures support The “Campaign for Special Olympics” sets ing values of inclusion, acceptance and respect. through legislation. unprecedented goals to increase athlete participation by 1 million and to raise more than $120 million over the course of the next five years, July 2002 December 2005 changing the face of the Movement. The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund partners “The Ringer,” a Farrelly Brothers film starring with Special Olympics to host an annual birthday Johnny Knoxville, opens in theaters throughout celebration for its founder and chairperson, Canada and the United States. The film includes May 2000 President of South Africa Nelson Mandela, appearances from more than 150 Special As part of the “Campaign for Special Olympics,” and helps Special Olympics launch its Olympics athletes. Its producers collaborated the Special Olympics China Millennium March Unified Sports® program in South Africa. with Special Olympics to challenge destructive is launched; the Movement’s most ambitious stereotypes and negative thinking about people growth campaign in history. China pledges to with intellectual disabilities. increase its current number of athletes from June 2003 50,000 to 500,000 by 2005. Ireland hosts the first Special Olympics World Summer Games held outside the United States. With 5,500 athletes participating, it is Ireland’s largest sporting event of the year, capturing the hearts and imaginations of an entire nation. December 2005 August 2009 September 2010 Special Olympics surpasses its goal of doubling The Movement mourns the loss of founder The fi rst Eunice Kennedy Shriver Day is held the number of athletes worldwide to 2.5 million Eunice Kennedy Shriver who died surrounded in countries around the world to celebrate the participants. With sports at the core, the by her family in Massachusetts. Letters and vision of the founder of Special Olympics Movement stands as a leader in advancing rights messages celebrating her contribution to and to accelerate the momentum of the Special and opportunities for its athletes in 165 countries. humanity pour in from world leaders and Olympics Movement. everyday people around the world. June 2006 December 2010 In celebration of the 85th birthday of founder November 2009 Eunice Kennedy Shriver, President George Movement leaders release the Special Olympics “A Very Special Christmas 7” is released, infusing W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush host a Strategic Plan 2011-2015, a visionary document the holiday record series with the energy and tribute dinner at the White House to honor that will guide the Movement’s growth over the talent of a new generation of music stars. Special Olympics. next fi ve years. October 2007 June 2010 January 2011 The Special Olympics Global Congress is held in The Special Olympics Movement mourns the The city of Shanghai, China, hosts the 12th Marrakech, Morocco, bringing together hundreds death of Sargent Shriver, husband of late founder Special Olympics World Summer Games, which of Movement leaders from countries around the Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Chairman of the are broadcast internationally on an unprecedented world to chart the next fi ve years of work. Board Emeritus. Shriver served as president scale. These Games, with more than 7,500 of the Movement from 1984 through 1996 and athletes from 164 countries participating, are served as Chairman of the Board of Directors a major milestone in the Movement’s history. July 2010 from 1990 to 2003. Special Olympics athletes from across the globe May 2009 play alongside football legends and other celebrities in a Unifi ed Football match at the The U.S. National Portrait Gallery unveils a por- June-July 2011 Greene Point Stadium in Cape Town, South trait of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the founder of The 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Africa, before the FIFA World Cup Quarter Final. Special Olympics. It is the fi rst portrait the Gallery Games are held in Athens, Greece. 7,000 athletes has ever commissioned of an individual who has from around the world gather to compete in the not served as a U.S. President or First Lady. birthplace of the Olympics—demonstrating to the world just how far the Movement has come. “The work of Special Olympics is very important for people with disabilities, but in reality, it has an important role in the comprehensive development of humanity around the world.” —Hu Jintao, President of the People’s Republic of China The Special Olympics Movement unlocks the joy of sport to inspire people Who We Are throughout the world to open their minds to human giftedness and to accept, Special Olympics is one of the world’s include and value people with intellectual disabilities in all aspects of life. most powerful social movements Today, Special Olympics is more than an event: it is one of the world’s most powerful and effective social movements.