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Athletics
Athletics is a collection of sporting events that include competitive running, jumping, shot put throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field races, road running events, and racewalking.
The Special Olympics offers 44 different athletics events, including:
1-Walking competitions
2-Hurdle jumping
3-Relay races
4-Long jump
5-Ball throwing
6-Shot put
7-Javelin throw
8-Road races, such as the half marathon and full marathon
Swimming
Swimming is a life skill that is taught first to ensure safety and secondly for sport and competition purposes. Swimming encompasses a wide range of skills, from short sprints to longer events and stages.
Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires full-body use to move through water. It can be performed in swimming pools or open water.
The Special Olympics offers over 41 aquatic events. These competitions vary in distance, type of stroke, and include both individual and relay events. The latest addition is open water swimming.
Weightlifting
Weightlifting in the Special Olympics is a sport that requires effort, perseverance, and dedication. Training, discipline, and determination are essential to achieving a successful lift. Weightlifting highlights not only physical strength but also the athlete’s internal desire to improve.
Weightlifting consists of three attempts at the maximum weight across three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in Olympic weightlifting, success depends on the athlete’s effort to lift the bar loaded with weight plates.
The Special Olympics offers multiple weightlifting competitions:
1-Squat
2-Bench Press
3-Deadlift
4-Bench Press and Deadlift combined
5-Squat, Bench Press, and Deadlift combined
Triathlon
Triathlon is a multi-sport competition that includes swimming, cycling, and running. It is an endurance sport where athletes train in all three disciplines to improve overall fitness and cardiovascular health. Triathlon encourages athletes of all abilities and ages to compete at a level suitable for them.
Official Special Olympics triathlon events include:
Running: 300 meters sprint, 750 meters, 5 km
Swimming: 750 meters, 10 km, 20 km
Cycling: 2.5 km, 5 km, 20 km
The winner is the athlete who completes the race in the shortest time from the start signal to crossing the finish line.
Cycling
Cycling is an excellent sport that requires good physical condition, balance, and tactical endurance. The Special Olympics includes time trials and road races over different distances, where each cyclist aims to reach the finish line in the best time possible.
For safety reasons, cyclists in the Special Olympics are prohibited from raising their hands off the handlebars at any time, unlike other cycling competitions where winners often raise their hands during or after crossing the finish line.
Special Olympics cycling events are organized in these categories: road, track, and mountain biking, limited to time trials and road races.
Bowling
Bowling is one of the fastest-growing and most popular Special Olympics sports. While some modifications are made to accommodate athletes with intellectual disabilities, most participants compete under the same rules as professional bowlers.
Ten-pin bowling is a competitive sport in which the player (“bowler”) rolls a bowling ball down a lane to knock down as many pins as possible.
The Special Olympics allows the use of bowling ramps for athletes who cannot roll the ball with one or both hands. Additionally, athletes who complete at least three frames but cannot continue may have their average score for remaining frames counted in their final score.
Table Tennis
Table tennis is a fast-paced sport that requires excellent hand-eye coordination. Special Olympics athletes share essential elements of strength and skill to play table tennis effectively.
The objective is for each player to pass the ball over the net to the opponent using a paddle.
Beyond traditional competitions, Special Olympics table tennis events include individual skills challenges that allow athletes to develop and compete in basic table tennis skills. These skills include paddle control, forehand, and backhand strokes.
Equestrian
Equestrian is one of the most exciting sports at the Special Olympics World Games. Balance, stability, and proper communication between horse and rider are crucial for success.
Athletes competing in equestrian events learn to ride horses, develop their skills, and gain confidence in guiding and controlling the horse. They can participate in various competitions including English and Western riding styles, relays, team events, and jumping.
The Special Olympics Equestrian program includes multiple disciplines. Dressage is the only Special Olympics event equivalent to the International Federation for Equestrian Sports. Other competitions are designed to provide a wide range of activities for athletes. Athletes are judged based on their posture, performance, and ability to influence the horse, which determines classification.
Equestrian competitions include:
1-Track racing
2-Team relays
3-Pair and four-person team exhibitions
4-Other equestrian events
Skiing
Skiing is a lifelong fitness sport for individuals of all ages. Speed skating provides cardiovascular benefits, improves muscle strength, balance, and coordination, and is both recreational and competitive.
Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating where athletes race each other over a set distance. Types include long-track speed skating, short-track speed skating, and marathon skating. Skiing competitions can range from 25 meters on a straight track to 3000 meters, and are conducted in relay, group, and unified formats.
Snowshoeing
Snowshoeing is part of the Winter Games in the Arctic and the Special Olympics Winter Games. It is an activity suitable for all ages that combines aerobic exercise with walking easily on snow without sinking, thanks to special snowshoes that distribute weight over a larger area, a property called “flotation.”
Traditional snowshoes have a rigid wooden frame with rawhide bindings. Competitions are adapted to each athlete’s skill and interest by their coaches.
Badminton
Badminton is enjoyed by millions of people worldwide of all ages. It tests speed, reaction time, muscle strength, endurance, and is thrilling to play.
Badminton is a racket sport where players hit a shuttlecock over a net. While it can be played in larger teams, the most common formats are singles and doubles. The Special Olympics allows adaptations for wheelchair athletes.
Bocce
Bocce is an Italian game where the main principle is to throw balls as close as possible to the target ball. Bocce, as a Special Olympics sport, provides individuals with disabilities social engagement, physical development, and confidence-building. It is the third most participated sport worldwide after football and golf.
Bocce is played individually, in pairs, or in teams of four, and in unified competitions with partners without disabilities.
Football (Soccer)
Football is played in almost every country. Its success is due to its accessibility for boys, girls, men, and women of any body type or ability. It requires minimal specialized equipment and uses simple, intuitive rules.
In addition to traditional football, the Special Olympics offers individual skills competitions, allowing athletes to practice and compete in essential skills like dribbling, shooting, and running with the ball. Final scores are based on total points earned across skill events.
Football competition formats include:
Five-a-side with one goal
Seven-a-side with one goal
Eleven-a-side according to FIFA rules
Indoor football
Unified teams of five, seven, or eleven players
The Special Olympics provides training in over thirty Olympic-type sports for athletes with disabilities. Athletes are classified by age, gender, and ability to ensure fair competition.
There are no world records in the Special Olympics; every athlete, whether in the fastest or slowest division, is equally recognized. All athletes receive awards according to their group, from gold, silver, and bronze medals to ribbons for fourth through eighth place. Equal ability grouping is fundamental in all competitions, including athletics, aquatics, table tennis, football, and skiing. All athletes have equal opportunities to participate, perform, and have their efforts recognized by teammates, family, friends, and supporters.
Basketball
Basketball is one of the most popular sports in the Special Olympics. It is played by athletes of all ages and abilities, including young players. Athletes learn ball handling and control.
The Special Olympics adapts International Basketball Federation rules for team competitions, including basket height adjustments and special refereeing rules.
Basketball is played in several team formats:
Five-a-side
Three-a-side
Unified teams
There are also individual skills competitions focusing on dribbling speed, ball handling, and other essential skills.
Floorball
Floorball is one of the newest team sports added to the Special Olympics worldwide. It was introduced in the Special Olympics International program in 2011 and showcased at the 2013 Winter World Games in South Korea.
Floorball is similar to hockey, fast-paced, and helps athletes develop speed, strength, agility, and teamwork skills.
In Olympic competitions, floorball is played with six players per team, while in the Special Olympics it is played four versus four. Floorball is also played as a Unified Sport with partners without disabilities.