The Special Olympics give those with developmental and physical disabilities the chance to compete in worldwide athletic competition against people with similar disabilities. The next Special Olympics Summer Games will be in July 2011 in Athens, Greece, and according to the Special Olympics website, 7,500 athletes from 185 countries are expected to participate.
Sports Offered
There will be 22 individual and team sports contested in the 2011 Summer Games Special Olympics: aquatics, athletics, badminton, basketball, beach volleyball, bocce ball, bowling, cycling, equestrian, football, golf, gymnastics, judo, kayaking, powerlifting, roller skating, sailing, softball, table tennis, handball, tennis and volleyball. Athletics includes both the marathon and track and field. The list of sports represents a very similar list to that of the Summer Olympic Games.
Venues
The 2011 Summer Games Special Olympics will utilize many of the same venues that were used in the 2004 Olympic Games. Athletics will be held in Olympic Stadium, aquatics will be at the Olympic Aquatics Centre, basketball will be in the Olympic Indoor Hall, powerlifting will be in the Olympic Velodrome, tennis will be played in the Olympic Tennis Centre and volleyball will be contested at the Olympic Stadium Sports Hall.
Ceremonies
Just like the Summer and Winter Olympics, the Summer Games Special Olympics feature elaborate opening and closing ceremonies. The Special Olympics World Games website states that the opening ceremonies will be held on June 25 at the Kallimarmaron Panathinaikon Stadium and the closing ceremonies will be at the same place on July 4. Fokas Evangelinos' creative team will direct and put on the ceremonies. The team consists of composer Stefanos Korkolis, production designer Ilias Ledakis, costume designer Elli Papageorgakopoulou and copywriter Theodore Grigoriadis. Also, Simon Graveling and Andrew Walsh will bring their 2004 Olympic experience as production consultants.
Athletes Village
Competitors will get to reside in the Special Olympics Village on the east end of the city of Athens. According to the Special Olympics website, the Special Olympics Village is in the seaside township of Aghios Andreas, which is about 30 minutes from the center of Athens. The website states that the Special Olympics Village features villas and low-rise buildings in a complex that measure approximately 1 million square meters. Athletes will get to enjoy beaches, movie theaters, cafes and other athletic facilities.
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