World Games

The Special Olympics Europe Eurasia Regional Leadership Conference, hosted by Special Olympics Germany and supported by the German Ministry for the Interior and Community, Sports Metropolis Berlin, Toyota Motor Europe and Lions Clubs International Foundation, took place in Berlin on 15 and 16 October. It gathered 200 Special Olympics athletes, Athlete Leaders, National Programme Directors, Sports Advisors and more from 44 countries across the region to the German capital. The varied agenda was devised to ensure an athlete-led approach and maximum engagement with a focus on using facilitated roundtable discussions to interrogate the challenges that our National Programmes and region face. Topics included: athlete, coach and volunteer retention and recruitment, partner engagement, engaging media. A highlight session was an athlete-led panel discussion, emceed by Ian Harper of Special Olympics Great Britain, in which five Athlete Leaders laid out their vision for the future of the movement in our region and fielded questions from the conference participants. Feedback on the format and approach from Special Olympics Programmes was immensely positive. For example, Special Olympics Gibraltar commented, "Definitely a very powerful Leadership Conference—great speakers, interactive, and a wonderful cross section of Athlete Leaders including Athlete Council Chairperson, whose voices have so much power."

Since 2007, Aspen DeField has coached Special Olympics athletes in a variety of sports, showing incredible dedication to advancing the mission of inclusion through sport.

Elisa Parutto made one dream come true when she walked the red carpet at the Venice International Film Festival last week with fellow athlete and accomplished actor Gabriele Di Bello. Now, she looks forward to bringing another dream to life when she competes in DanceSport at the Special Olympics World Winter Games Turin 2025!

Kiera Byland BEM shares her journey since being elected as Global Athlete Congress Chair during the World Games in Berlin

Over the past few weeks, volunteer pair Reka Schatz and Beeke Brinkmann have been among the Special Olympics athletes and partners assisting at UEFA EURO 2024 - the third-largest sporting event in the world.

On this week’s episode of the Inclusion Revolution Radio Podcast, podcast hosts Novie Craven and Josh Basile discussed Brightspot’s Special Olympics partnership with Parker Ramsdell, Brightspot Senior Vice President of People, Mission & Culture.

Dedicated Kenyan Athletes and Coaches Traverse Long Distances Just to Attend Weekly Trainings

Reflecting on the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023, this week’s episode of Inclusion Revolution Radio celebrates the one-year anniversary of the Global Leadership Coalition for Inclusion.

Novie Craven, spoke with Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Program Officer, Panos Vazaios, and Special Olympics Chief Global Government Relations Officer, Shawn Ferguson.

In a week of activities to mark the one-year anniversary of the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023, the official media and awareness report was published and a global webinar charting the event’s ongoing legacy impact was held.