Special Olympics
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40 free Special Olympics trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Special Olympics began with one woman's belief that sport could change how the world sees people with intellectual disabilities. More than half a century later it is a year-round global movement with millions of participants, its own World Games and a long list of famous supporters. This quiz follows the story from the first summer meet to the modern Summer and Winter World Games: the founder and the people around her, the host cities, the sports on the schedule, the fundraisers and health work, and the films, music and television moments that carried the movement to a wider audience. It is written for fans, volunteers, coaches, teachers and families, and for anyone planning a trivia round for a Special Olympics event. Every question comes with a short explanation, so you pick up the history as you play.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who founded Special Olympics after running a backyard summer camp for children with intellectual disabilities?
Eunice Kennedy Shriver
Eunice Kennedy Shriver, a sister of President John F. Kennedy, announced the new organization at the very first games in 1968.
Q 02Which Midwestern city hosted the first Special Olympics games in July 1968, drawing about 1,000 athletes?
Chicago
Chicago's Soldier Field hosted the meet, and a swimming pool was specially built inside the stadium for the races.
Q 03Unlike Special Olympics, which event for athletes with disabilities shares a host city and year with the Olympics?
Paralympics
The Paralympics were first held in Rome in 1960, while Special Olympics World Games keep their own separate schedule and hosts.
Q 04Members of which profession carry the Flame of Hope to Special Olympics opening ceremonies in a fundraising Torch Run?
Police officers
Police officers began the Torch Run in Wichita, Kansas, in 1981, and it grew into the movement's largest grassroots fundraiser.
Q 05Which winter fundraiser, a favorite of Special Olympics chapters, dares supporters to jump into icy lakes and oceans?
Polar Plunge
Polar Plunge events can be huge: one annual plunge for Special Olympics drew 7,400 people and raised $2.2 million in 2007.
Q 06Which actor fakes a disability to enter Special Olympics in The Ringer, a 2005 comedy the organization endorsed?
Johnny Knoxville
Johnny Knoxville's character joins the scheme to pay off gambling debts, then falls in love with a Special Olympics volunteer.
Q 07Which bodybuilder turned action star lit the Special Olympics Flame of Hope with athletes at the Great Wall of China?
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger's torch lighting in 2000 launched a march that saw China pledge to grow from 50,000 athletes to 500,000.
Q 08At Special Olympics events the top three finishers earn medals, but what do those placed fourth to eighth receive?
Ribbons
Ribbons for fourth through eighth place mean that every athlete in a final is recognized for his or her performance.
Q 09Which Special Olympics program, launched in 1988, puts players with and without intellectual disabilities on one team?
Unified Sports
Unified Sports started with just three sports: bowling, volleyball and softball.
Q 10Which drinks brand, a sponsor since the first games in 1968, is the founding partner of Special Olympics?
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola has gone beyond sponsorship by hiring Special Olympics athletes onto its project teams for recent World Games.
Q 11Which capital hosted the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games, the first summer edition outside the United States?
Dublin
Dublin's opening ceremony at Croke Park featured U2 and Riverdance before about 75,000 athletes and spectators.
Q 12Which U.S. state hosted the first Special Olympics World Winter Games in 1977, in the ski town of Steamboat Springs?
Colorado
Colorado's slopes drew more than 500 athletes for skiing and skating, and all three major U.S. television networks covered the games.
Q 13Which indoor team sport joined track and field and swimming at the first Special Olympics games in 1968?
Floor hockey
Floor hockey at Special Olympics uses a bladeless stick and a wide disc with a hole in the middle instead of a puck.
Q 21Which Chinese city hosted the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games, a year before Beijing staged the Olympics?
Shanghai
Shanghai's games set a participation record at the time, bringing together more than 7,500 athletes from 164 countries.
Q 22Which German city hosted the 2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games, opening them at its Olympiastadion?
Berlin
Berlin's nine-day event marked the first time Germany had hosted the Special Olympics World Games.
Q 23Which Gulf city hosted the 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games, the first ever held in the Middle East?
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi staged the games in March rather than midsummer because of the region's extreme climate.
Q 14Which Italian ball-rolling game, in which players aim for a small target ball, is an official Special Olympics sport?
Bocce
Bocce traces its roots to games played in the Roman Empire and is a close cousin of French pétanque and English bowls.
Q 15Which Special Olympics winter sport, also part of the Arctic Winter Games, has athletes run races across snow?
Snowshoeing
Snowshoeing lets athletes cross deep snow without sinking in, which makes it a winter sport for all ages.
Q 16Which actor plays a coach guiding a basketball team to the Special Olympics finals in the 2023 comedy Champions?
Woody Harrelson
Woody Harrelson's character takes the job as community service after an arrest, in a remake of a 2018 Spanish film.
Q 17In which animated series does a schoolboy fake a disability to enter Special Olympics, only to finish last?
South Park
South Park sends Cartman in expecting easy wins, but he is beaten in every event and gets only a spirit award for coming last.
Q 18Which First Lady spoke at the Los Angeles opening of a Special Olympics World Games while the president sent a video?
Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama addressed the 2015 ceremony at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where Stevie Wonder was among the performers.
Q 19Special Olympics athlete Chris Nikic became the first person with Down syndrome to finish which endurance event?
Ironman triathlon
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.
Q 20The husband of the Special Olympics founder, later its chairman, was the first director of which volunteer agency?
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps' first director was elected president of Special Olympics in 1984 and became chairman of its board in 1990.
Q 24Which European country hosted the 1993 Special Olympics World Winter Games, the first staged outside the United States?
Austria
Austria split the events between Salzburg and Schladming, and a head of state took part in the opening ceremony for the first time.
Q 25Which Japanese city, already a Winter Olympics host, staged the first Special Olympics World Games in Asia, in 2005?
Nagano
Nagano, host of the 1998 Winter Olympics, became the first city to stage the Olympics, the Paralympics and the Special Olympics World Games.
Q 26Which country, home of researcher Dr. Frank Hayden, joined the United States at the first Special Olympics in 1968?
Canada
Canada's Dr. Hayden had shown in 1964 that people with intellectual disabilities can and should exercise, and he directed the games until 1972.
Q 27Special Olympics held its first games in the Midwest, but which East Coast city is home to its global headquarters?
Washington
Washington also staged the first major Special Olympics benefit gala in 1975, with Barbra Streisand giving a rare live performance.
Q 28Which organization declared 1986 the International Year of Special Olympics, two years before IOC recognition?
United Nations
The United Nations launched the year under a theme about uniting the world.
Q 29Which Special Olympics program, begun in 1997, runs free screenings such as Special Smiles and Opening Eyes?
Healthy Athletes
Healthy Athletes has delivered more than 2 million free screenings and trained close to 300,000 health professionals and students.
Q 30What does Special Olympics call grouping athletes by ability, age and gender so that every race is evenly matched?
Divisioning
Divisioning relies on entry scores or a preliminary round, so athletes of every ability level get a fair contest.