40 Fun Facts About Special Olympics

Who founded Special Olympics after running a backyard summer camp for children with intellectual disabilities?

Eunice Kennedy Shriver, a sister of President John F. Kennedy, announced the new organization at the very first games in 1968.

Which Midwestern city hosted the first Special Olympics games in July 1968, drawing about 1,000 athletes?

Chicago's Soldier Field hosted the meet, and a swimming pool was specially built inside the stadium for the races.

Unlike Special Olympics, which event for athletes with disabilities shares a host city and year with the Olympics?

The Paralympics were first held in Rome in 1960, while Special Olympics World Games keep their own separate schedule and hosts.

Members of which profession carry the Flame of Hope to Special Olympics opening ceremonies in a fundraising Torch Run?

Police officers began the Torch Run in Wichita, Kansas, in 1981, and it grew into the movement's largest grassroots fundraiser.

Which winter fundraiser, a favorite of Special Olympics chapters, dares supporters to jump into icy lakes and oceans?

Polar Plunge events can be huge: one annual plunge for Special Olympics drew 7,400 people and raised $2.2 million in 2007.

Which actor fakes a disability to enter Special Olympics in The Ringer, a 2005 comedy the organization endorsed?

Johnny Knoxville's character joins the scheme to pay off gambling debts, then falls in love with a Special Olympics volunteer.

Which bodybuilder turned action star lit the Special Olympics Flame of Hope with athletes at the Great Wall of China?

Arnold Schwarzenegger's torch lighting in 2000 launched a march that saw China pledge to grow from 50,000 athletes to 500,000.

At Special Olympics events the top three finishers earn medals, but what do those placed fourth to eighth receive?

Ribbons for fourth through eighth place mean that every athlete in a final is recognized for his or her performance.

Which Special Olympics program, launched in 1988, puts players with and without intellectual disabilities on one team?

Unified Sports started with just three sports: bowling, volleyball and softball.

Which drinks brand, a sponsor since the first games in 1968, is the founding partner of Special Olympics?

Coca-Cola has gone beyond sponsorship by hiring Special Olympics athletes onto its project teams for recent World Games.

Which capital hosted the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games, the first summer edition outside the United States?

Dublin's opening ceremony at Croke Park featured U2 and Riverdance before about 75,000 athletes and spectators.

Which U.S. state hosted the first Special Olympics World Winter Games in 1977, in the ski town of Steamboat Springs?

Colorado's slopes drew more than 500 athletes for skiing and skating, and all three major U.S. television networks covered the games.

Which indoor team sport joined track and field and swimming at the first Special Olympics games in 1968?

Floor hockey at Special Olympics uses a bladeless stick and a wide disc with a hole in the middle instead of a puck.

Which Italian ball-rolling game, in which players aim for a small target ball, is an official Special Olympics sport?

Bocce traces its roots to games played in the Roman Empire and is a close cousin of French pétanque and English bowls.

Which Special Olympics winter sport, also part of the Arctic Winter Games, has athletes run races across snow?

Snowshoeing lets athletes cross deep snow without sinking in, which makes it a winter sport for all ages.

Which actor plays a coach guiding a basketball team to the Special Olympics finals in the 2023 comedy Champions?

Woody Harrelson's character takes the job as community service after an arrest, in a remake of a 2018 Spanish film.

In which animated series does a schoolboy fake a disability to enter Special Olympics, only to finish last?

South Park sends Cartman in expecting easy wins, but he is beaten in every event and gets only a spirit award for coming last.

Which First Lady spoke at the Los Angeles opening of a Special Olympics World Games while the president sent a video?

Michelle Obama addressed the 2015 ceremony at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where Stevie Wonder was among the performers.

Special Olympics athlete Chris Nikic became the first person with Down syndrome to finish which endurance event?

The Ironman triathlon took Nikic 16 hours 46 minutes in 2020: a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a full marathon.

The husband of the Special Olympics founder, later its chairman, was the first director of which volunteer agency?

The Peace Corps' first director was elected president of Special Olympics in 1984 and became chairman of its board in 1990.

Which Chinese city hosted the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games, a year before Beijing staged the Olympics?

Shanghai's games set a participation record at the time, bringing together more than 7,500 athletes from 164 countries.

Which German city hosted the 2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games, opening them at its Olympiastadion?

Berlin's nine-day event marked the first time Germany had hosted the Special Olympics World Games.

Which Gulf city hosted the 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games, the first ever held in the Middle East?

Abu Dhabi staged the games in March rather than midsummer because of the region's extreme climate.

Which European country hosted the 1993 Special Olympics World Winter Games, the first staged outside the United States?

Austria split the events between Salzburg and Schladming, and a head of state took part in the opening ceremony for the first time.

Which Japanese city, already a Winter Olympics host, staged the first Special Olympics World Games in Asia, in 2005?

Nagano, host of the 1998 Winter Olympics, became the first city to stage the Olympics, the Paralympics and the Special Olympics World Games.

Which country, home of researcher Dr. Frank Hayden, joined the United States at the first Special Olympics in 1968?

Canada's Dr. Hayden had shown in 1964 that people with intellectual disabilities can and should exercise, and he directed the games until 1972.

Special Olympics held its first games in the Midwest, but which East Coast city is home to its global headquarters?

Washington also staged the first major Special Olympics benefit gala in 1975, with Barbra Streisand giving a rare live performance.

Which organization declared 1986 the International Year of Special Olympics, two years before IOC recognition?

The United Nations launched the year under a theme about uniting the world.

Which Special Olympics program, begun in 1997, runs free screenings such as Special Smiles and Opening Eyes?

Healthy Athletes has delivered more than 2 million free screenings and trained close to 300,000 health professionals and students.

What does Special Olympics call grouping athletes by ability, age and gender so that every race is evenly matched?

Divisioning relies on entry scores or a preliminary round, so athletes of every ability level get a fair contest.

Which U.S. president opened the Special Olympics World Summer Games in New Haven before a record crowd at the Yale Bowl?

Bill Clinton opened the 1995 games in Connecticut and later hosted the first Special Olympics gala ever held at the White House.

Which decathlon champion, who lit the cauldron at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, founded California Special Olympics?

Rafer Johnson served on the organizing committee of the 1968 games, then staged a 900-athlete meet at the Los Angeles Coliseum a year later.

Special Olympics runner Loretta Claiborne, who has finished more than 25 marathons, received which ESPY honor in 1996?

The Arthur Ashe Courage Award came four years before Disney turned Claiborne's life story into a television film.

Which New York artist drew the cover of A Very Special Christmas, the 1987 benefit album for Special Olympics?

Keith Haring's line drawing of a figure holding a baby has appeared on every album in the series, which has raised over $100 million.

In which state did the founder of Special Olympics host the 1960s backyard day camp that grew into the movement?

Maryland was home to Timberlawn, the family farm where 34 children and 26 counselors gathered for the first camp.

Which magazine ran an early-1960s article by the Special Olympics founder about her sister's intellectual disability?

The Saturday Evening Post piece was seen as a watershed in changing public attitudes toward people with intellectual disabilities.

On which 1995 commemorative coin did the Special Olympics founder become the first living woman shown on U.S. coinage?

The silver dollar made her only the fifth living person ever depicted on United States coinage, despite objections from two advisory panels.

Anne Burke, the gym teacher who proposed the 1968 meet that became Special Olympics, later rose to which office?

State chief justice was the office Burke held from 2019 to 2022, capping 16 years on her state's supreme court.

Which former Winter Olympics host gave up the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games, which moved to Boise, Idaho?

Sarajevo withdrew over financial problems and delays in rebuilding the venues from its 1984 Winter Olympics.

Which college hosted the first Special Olympics USA Games in 2006, welcoming over 3,000 athletes from all 50 states?

Iowa State University shared hosting duties with the city of Ames, and the athletes competed in 13 sports.