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!