The “flame of hope” turned on last night in Turin with a colorful and delicate opening ceremony, the brazier of the Special Olympics world winter games, the winter Olympiad of athletes with intellectual disabilities. The opening ceremony was Made by Wonder Studio by Marco Balich, the same one who edited over twenty Olympic ceremonies, including Turin 2006 and which already scheduled that of Milan Cortina 2006, which celebrated the one hundred days from the beginning of the Paralympics on March 5.
As for the Olympic and Paralyffect movement, the ceremony has fixed elements: it includes a relay that leads to the ignition of the brazier the flame lit in Greece, the special Olympics oath “that I can win, but if you cannot, that I can try with all my strength” and the official declaration of opening of the games.
What is special Olympics
Special Olympics is today a global movement, 200 nations in the world, which, through unified sport (through which athletes with and without intellectual disabilities have the opportunity to play together in the same team), works to create a world of inclusion, integration and respect, in which every single person is accepted and accepted, regardless of its ability or condition of disability.
It is no coincidence that its international logo, red in the Bianto field, is made up of five stylized people who unite their arms to form a world champion: their feature is that they do not have two arms each but you aretwo positioned at the bottom to symbolize the starting disadvantage, two at the height of the shoulders to unite the hands with other people to show the global unit and the inclusiveness of the movement, two at the top to celebrate the goals achieved. Together these arms also represent the path taken by the Special Movement during its history.
History and numbers of Special Olympics Italia
Special Olympics Italia, recognized as an association meritorious by the Olympic and Paralympic Committee has existed since 1983 and operates in all regions through Team Special Olympics that train athletes in official, demonstration and experimental sports, even with unified sports competitions where expected.
The Italian movement is composed of Over 12 thousand athletes and more than 4 thousand volunteers. In addition to the organizational and sporting components, the special Olympics Italia sponsors have a staff of clinical directors: Healthcare professionals and volunteers promoters of the Healthy Athletes Program, a free visits program designed to improve the health status of the Special Olympics athletes, who On the occasion of national events, highly qualified visits and health education programs carry out health education programs so that athletes can develop all their potential and express themselves in the best way, in sport and in life.
An idea of Eunice Kennedy, JFK’s sister
The first embryo of Special Olympics dates back to the early 1950s in the United States. He took shape from an idea of Eunice Kennedy Shiver, sister of John Kennedy, who found the serious discrimination of people with intellectual disabilities who were hidden and imprisoned at the timeand from a summer camp organized for them in the courtyard of their home.
Eunice knew the situation well for having lived her at home, having grown up with the other sister Rosemary, who had an intellectual disability. With Rosemarie Eunice was swimming, played football, he played sports, but Rosemary’s disability had been kept secret by the family, until Eunice was responsible for helping her not to hide anymore. A commitment that has become a public as a private person, until he gets a worldwide mobilization.
The story until the Olympic recognition
Special Olympics as a movement was born in 1968, financed by the Kennedy Foundation and various entities. Currently the Kennedy Foundation which today is no longer its economic supporter but continues to share and spread its cultural principles and values and to promote them in the world. The first formalization arrived in December 1971 when the United States Olympic Committee authorized Special Olympics to use the name “Olympics”, the only organization under the gate of this title, apart from the Olympic movement apart from.
Thanks to a memorandum of understanding signed on February 15, 1988, the International Olympic Committee has signed an agreement for the official recognition of Special Olympics by accepting to collaborate with the representative of the interests of athletes with intellectual disabilities.
The recognition of the IOC implies that the tenders, the workouts are conducted in compliance with the ideals of international Olimpism and the commitment to protect and supervise the use of the term “Olympic”, preserving it from abuse.
The difference between special Olympics and Paralympic movement
Special Olympics and the Paralympic Committee are two distinct and separate organizations, each with its objectives, methods and rules. Both are recognized by the IOC (International Olympic Committee). But there are several philosophies and objectives.
Special Olympics allows, through sport, to concretize your skills. Special Olympics events are open to all and They guarantee each participant of loyal competitions through a system of categories of capacity but do not provide unlike the Paralympic movement a qualifying system connected to performance. For Special Olympics, excellence means personal fulfillment, it is evaluated on the basis of personal objectives.
Paralympic games, on the other hand, the achievement of high -level sporting performance set by the International Paralympic Committee. Only athletes, classified according to categories disabilities, who boast the best international performances can participate in the Paralympics. While the Special Olympics international events that take place every year a national representative is invited to participate alternately in the world games (winter or summer) or European ones.
Turin games 2025
The Special Olympics world games in Turin, for the first time in history in Italy, involve athletes from 102 delegations until 15 March 1500, 621 coaches, 3,000 volunteers, and thousands of people among staff, medical staff, family members, media, guests, delegates and over 300,000 spectators.
Distributed among the already Olympic locations in 2006 of Turin, Pragelato, Bardonecchia and Sestriere, the games host alpine ski races, Nordic skiing, snowboarding, rush with snow rackets, floorball, artic ice skating on ice, speed skating on ice and sports dance.
The logo Of the special Olympics World Winter Games Turin 2025, the Mole Antonelliana, the Alps and the ski slopes and the snowboard was designed to represent in a graphic synthesis. Together, the symbols represent the inclusion and unit of Special Olympics and its World Winter Games.
