While we were busy with news about the upcoming General Elections and anticipating the IPL tournament, a group of determined Indians were making the country proud.
The Indian contingent at Special Olympics 2019 quietly made news with their medal haul, and proved to everyone that living with intellectual disability need not be an obstacle to achieving success on a world stage.
Special Olympics
Special Olympics is an international sporting competition for people with intellectual disabilities. Held once every two years, the athletes compete in sports similar to other major multi-sporting competitions: swimming, cycling, gymnastics, athletics, cricket, basketball, tennis, judo and many more. It also features less common sporting events like snowshoe running, floorball, and bocce.
Though its name has ‘Olympics’ in it, it is not associated with the International Olympic Committee but is recognised by it.
To be eligible to participate in Special Olympics, an athlete must be at least eight years of age and identified by an agency or professional as having one of the following conditions: intellectual disability, cognitive delays as measured by formal assessment, or significant learning or vocational problems due to cognitive delay that have required specially designed instruction.
History
It was started by Eunice Kennedy Shriver in 1968. She was motivated to start it when she realised that people with intellectual disability like her sister Rosemary, lacked sporting opportunities. So, it started off as a gathering of people with intellectual disabilities who were invited to a summer day camp.
From its modest beginning, Special Olympics has grown to a worldwide event, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2018.
Special Olympics 2019
Where: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
When: March 14 to 21, 2019
Events: 24 summer sports
Athletes: 7,500 athletes
Nations: 192+
Volunteers: 20,000
Fact: First Special Olympics World Games held in the Middle East/North Africa region.
The Bharat delegation from India celebrate before departure to 2019 World Games, Abu Dhabi.
India at Special Olympics
Indian athletes’ medal haul of 233 at the event has been astounding.
With 96 medals, powerlifting was the category in which India won the most medals. Amanjot Singh and Ankita Jain won gold medals in men’s and women’s powerlifting.
Roller-skating was the biggest contributor to India’s gold tally. In all, India won 49 medals in the category, including 13 gold and 20 silver. Our table tennis athletes won four golds, making it the best result yet. The team comprised 18-year-old Anu Chennekota who was on her maiden Special Olympics World Games, besides her friend Sabita Yadav, Sandesh Krishna and Akash Tukuram.
Athletics, aquatics, cycling, judo, powerlifting, table tennis, roller skating, badminton, basketball traditional, handball traditional, and football - 7 side (female) are the other events in which India registered wins.
India also particpated in Judo and Futsal events for the first time in its nine appearances at the Games.
Besides the competition and medals, there were other reasons to smile especially for Jyothi A. and Rincy Biju of the Indian women’s basketball team. The hearing-impaired basketball players experienced the joy of sound for the first time, thanks to the SO Healthy Athletes programme. After a health screening, Rincy was fitted with a hearing aid that resembles a hairband, while Jyothi received a more conventional one placed on the ear. The two girls were overcome with emotion once they realised their lives had changed forever.
Inputs: Sportstar, The Hindu
USE Cheerleaders at ADNEC
March 19 2019
Photo by Marwan Enezi
What is intellectual disability?
An individual is considered to have an intellectual disability when they have below-average intellectual/brain function and a lack of daily living skills like communication, self-care, social skills, leisure, health and safety, and more. Because of this, a person with intellectual disability learns and adapts in ways that are different from you.
According to World Health Organisation, up to 3% — nearly 200 million people — of the world’s population have intellectual disabilities. It is the largest developmental disability in the world.
One of the purposes of Special Olympics is to dispel negative attitudes and stereotypes about people with intellectual disabilities. Thus, it has updated its official terminology to use individuals, persons or people with intellectual disabilities, rather than “intellectually disabled people” or “the intellectually disabled”, and definitely not the word “retard”.
Source: Specialolympics.org
