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We are helping to make the world a better, healthier and more joyful place—one athlete, one volunteer, one family member at a time.
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Athletes

Inclusive Fitness for All: Meet Banele

Banele on the track on the left and on the beach on the left.

Banele is a South Africa athlete and athlete leader who built on his basketball and athletics skills to become a coach. Then, he became decided to share his training techniques with others in his community.

Banele sees that exercise has countless benefits, such as weight loss and muscle gain, better sleep, and more energy. He also believes exercise can help with disease prevention and increased immunity. But what he admires most is tthe fact that fitness can bring a boost in self-confidence and a new joy for life.

He is not only committed to his own personal fitness, but is now using his skills and knowledge to run a small community exercise club in his home town. He is working hard to support and encourage other athletes and community members to keep fit and stay healthy.

Through it all, Benele is proving every day that inclusion works!

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Team Player on the Field—And Off

Michel needed a job to support his mother and younger siblings, but he had yet to develop the social and adaptive skills that are so necessary in the workplace. Among other things, he had to adapt to working and communicating with a variety of people.
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Proving Abilities, Shattering Low Expectations: Meet Youssef

Youssef saw his friends beaten and bullied, then he was beaten and bullied—all because they have intellectual disabilities. Instead of giving up, he became determined to show the world that people with ID can do anything “if only we are given the chance.”
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Through sports, Special Olympics athletes build skills and become leaders—on the field and in the community. Stephanie Handojo can tell you all about it! For Stephanie, swimming has been a great way to shatter stereotypes about the skills and stamina of people with Down syndrome. But to do this, she had to overcome many obstacles, including a huge one: her fear of water.
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