MILESTONES

Important Special Olympics Milestones

June 1962
Eunice Kennedy Shriver starts a summer day camp for children and adults with intellectual disabilities at her home in Maryland to explore their capabilities in a variety of sports and physical activities.

20 July 1968
Together with the Chicago Park District, the Kennedy Foundation plans and underwrites the First International Special Olympics Summer Games, held in Chicago's Soldier Field, with 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities from 26 states and Canada competing in athletics, floor hockey, and aquatics.

December 1968
Special Olympics, Inc. is established as a not-for-profit charitable organization under the laws of the District of Columbia. The National Association for Retarded Citizens, the Council for Exceptional Children, and the American Association on Mental Deficiency pledge their support for this first systematic effort to provide sports training and athletic competition for individuals with intellectual disabilities based on the Olympic tradition and spirit.

13-15 August 1970
The Second International Special Olympics Summer Games take place in Chicago, Illinois, with 2,000 athletes from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, France, and Puerto Rico.

13-18 August 1972
The Third International Special Olympics Summer Games take place at the University of California – Los Angeles with 2,500 participants.

7-11 August 1975
The Fourth International Special Olympics Summer Games take place at Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, with 3,200 athletes from 10 countries taking part. The Games are broadcast nationwide on CBS' "Sports Spectacular."

5-11 February 1977
The First International Special Olympics Winter Games are held in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, with more than 500 athletes competing in skiing and skating events. CBS, ABC, and NBC television networks cover the Games.
8-13 August 1979
The Fifth International Special Olympics Summer Games take place at the State University of New York at Brockport with more than 3,500 athletes from every state in the U.S. and more than 20 countries.

1980-1981
Special Olympics launches a training and certification program for coaches and publishes the first Sports Skills Guide.

8-13 March 1981
The Second International Special Olympics Winter Games are held at the Village of Smugglers ' Notch and Stowe, Vermont, with more than 600 Alpine and cross country skiers and ice skaters participating.

12-18 July 1983
The Sixth International Special Olympics Summer Games are held at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. A crowd of more than 60,000 attends the Opening Ceremonies and approximately 4,000 athletes participate.

24-29 March 1985
Athletes from 14 countries are represented in skiing and skating events at the Third International Special Olympics Winter Games in Park City, Utah.

September 1986
The International Year of Special Olympics, culminating in the 1987 International Special Olympics Summer Games, is launched at the United Nations in New York City under the banner "Special Olympics — Uniting the World."

July 1987
More than 30,000 law enforcement officers from every state in the U.S. and seven countries run 26,000 miles in the Law Enforcement Torch Run® for Special Olympics. The 1987 Torch Run raises more than $2 million.

31 July - 8 August 1987
The University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary's College in South Bend, Indiana, host the Seventh International Special Olympics Summer Games. More than 4,700 athletes from more than 70 countries participate in 1987's largest amateur sports event. The Games are covered in Sports Illustrated and Time, and reach more than 150 million people worldwide.

October 1987
Jimmy and Vicki Iovine of A&M Records and Bobby Shriver produce A Very Special Christmas, featuring holiday music performed by top pop chart music performers, with all album proceeds benefiting Special Olympics programs worldwide.

February 1988
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) signs an historic agreement officially recognizing Special Olympics.

July 1988
Special Olympics Unified Sports® is launched at the annual Special Olympics Conference in Reno, Nevada.

1- 8 April 1989
The Fourth International Special Olympics Winter Games are held in Reno, Nevada, and Lake Tahoe, California. More than 1,000 athletes from 18 countries participate.

11 February 1990
ABC-TV's "Life Goes On"— the first prime time television drama starring an actor with intellectual disabilities —devotes an hour-long episode to Special Olympics.

14 February 1990
Sargent Shriver announces the historic decision by the Soviet Union to join the Special Olympics movement. Special Olympics is the first charitable organization to implement such a program at local and national levels in the USSR.

20-27 July 1990
The third European Special Olympics Summer Games are held in Strathclyde, Scotland. Thirty European countries are represented by 2,400 athletes participating in eight official and five demonstration sports.

19-27 July 1991
The eighth Special Olympics World Summer Games* are held in Minneapolis / St. Paul, Minnesota. Six thousand athletes from more than 100 countries make this the largest sporting event in the world in 1991.
(*The official name changes in 1991 from International Games to Special Olympics World Summer or World Winter Games.)

30 September 1992
Special Olympics kicks off its 25th Anniversary Celebration — "Together We Win" — at the United Nations in New York City, where the 25th Anniversary Traveling Exhibit is officially launched before beginning a nationwide tour.

20-27 March 1993
The fifth Special Olympics World Winter Games are held in Salzburg and Schladming, Austria, with 1,600 athletes from more than 50 countries participating in five winter sports. These are the first World Winter Games held outside North America.

1-9 July 1995
Over 7,000 athletes from 143 countries gather in New Haven, Connecticut, for competition in 21 sports at the ninth Special Olympics World Summer Games.

1-8 February 1997
Nearly 2,000 athletes from 73 countries compete in five Olympic-type winter sports in Toronto/Collingwood, Ontario, Canada for the sixth Special Olympics World Winter Games. This event is the world's largest winter multi-sport event in 1997.

20 July 1998
Special Olympics celebrates 30 years of heroes with the introduction of twelve 30th Anniversary Global Messengers.

17 December 1998
United States President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton host a Christmas concert at the White House — entitled "A Very Special Christmas from Washington D.C. " — to celebrate Special Olympics 30th Anniversary. The event marks the first time a United States President has hosted a Special Olympics gala at the White House. It is also the first time artists from the successful "A Very Special Christmas" album series gather to perform together.

26 June - 4 July 1999
The tenth Special Olympics World Summer Games are held in the Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill area (Triangle) in North Carolina. Over 7,000 athletes representing 150 countries compete in 19 sports.

16 January 2000
ABC-TV's The Wonderful World of Disney — the first prime time television movie about the life of a Special Olympics athlete — "The Loretta Claiborne Story."

18-22 May 2000
The Special Olympics China Millennium March takes place throughout China. Arnold Schwarzenegger, along with Special Olympics athletes, light the Flame of Hope at the Great Wall of China, and celebrate the Special Olympics movement with gala events in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Special Olympics China declare they will increase the current number of Special Olympics athletes from 50,000 to 500,000 by 2004.

20-23 May 2000
The first-ever Global Athlete Congress takes place in The Hague, The Netherlands. 60 athletes from every region of the world comes together to discuss the future of the Special Olympics movement. Despite differences in language, culture, age and gender, these athletes are able to discuss topics, challenge existing ideals and vote on new resolutions.

27 May- 4 June 2000
More than 2,000 athletes from 53 Special Olympics Programs representing Europe and Eurasia participate in the 2000 Special Olympics European Games in Groningen, the Netherlands.

14 December 2000
United States President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton host a Christmas concert at the White House — entitled "A Very Special Christmas from Washington D.C. " — to celebrate the Spirit of Special Olympics. The event marks the second time a United States President has hosted a Special Olympics gala at the White House. It is also the second time artists from the successful "A Very Special Christmas" album series gather to perform together.

4-11 March 2001
Over 1,800 athletes representing approximately 70 countries compete in seven Olympic-type winter sports at the 2001 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Anchorage, Alaska. The 2001 Special Olympics World Winter Games are the largest sporting event ever held in the history of Alaska.

5 March 2001
The United States Senate Committee on Appropriation conducts a public hearing, chaired by the Honorable Senator Ted Stevens, on promoting health for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Special Olympics presents a Special Report on the Health Status and of Needs of Individuals with Mental Retardation, identifying actions to improve the quality and length of life of persons with intellectual disabilities. A panel of distinguished speakers in the fields of intellectual disabilities, healthcare, and physical fitness testify.

5-10 March 2001
First-ever Global Youth Summit is held in conjunction with the 2001 Special Olympics World Winter Games. Thirty-four students with and without intellectual disabilities from around the world work in pairs to report on the World Games and discuss how to overcome the attitudes and stereotypes that kids with intellectual disabilities face.

12-14 July 2001
Special Olympics African Hope 2001 is held in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Sun City, South Africa. Former President Nelson Mandela, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Special Olympics athletes light the Flame of Hope on Robben Island, which is followed by the world's largest Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics through the streets of Cape Town. A soccer tournament, golf fundraiser and gala events in Johannesburg and Sun City generate awareness of the movement throughout the continent. Special Olympics African Hope 2001 launches a major growth campaign to reach 100,000 new Special Olympics athletes throughout Africa by the year 2005.

16 November 2001
The NCAA Honors Committee announced Eunice Kennedy Shriver as the recipient of the 2002 Theodore Roosevelt Award— the highest honor the NCAA bestows on an individual. Mrs. Shriver became the 35th recipient of the award at the NCAA Honors Dinner January 13, 2002, in Indianapolis. The award, also known as the "Teddy," is presented annually to a distinguished citizen who is a former college student-athlete and who has exemplified the ideals and purposes of college athletics by demonstrating a continuing interest and concern for physical fitness and sport. The award is named after former President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt in recognition of his role in the inception of the NCAA.

6 December 2001
Surgeon General David Satcher presented the prized Surgeon General's "Medallion Award" to Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of Special Olympics. The Surgeon General's highest honor recognized Mrs. Shriver as a leader in the worldwide struggle to improve and enhance the lives of individuals with intellectual disabilities.

13 December 2001
U.S. President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush host a Christmas dinner at the White House to celebrate the "Spirit of Special Olympics." Musician B.B. King performs for the more than 100 guests.

11 February 2002
U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher releases A National Blueprint to Improve the Health of People with Mental Retardation, the first government report to bring this issue to the forefront and promote actions to remedy it.

22 March 2002
Under the theme “E.T. and Special Olympics Celebrate Differences”, the Universal Studios-Special Olympics partnership communicated the messages of acceptance, tolerance, and diversity. E.T. carried the torch for Special Olympics and invited people around the world to become an ET Torchbearer to help carry the message through a variety of ways— school activities, contribution possibilities and volunteer opportunities.

19-20 July 2002
The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund partnered with Special Olympics to host an annual birthday celebration for its Founder and Chairperson, former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela. In alignment with the theme, "Unified Sports and Intellectual Disability," Special Olympics athletes participated in non-competitive, Unified Sports® activities with children from the Children's Fund at the Polokwane Stadium in South Africa. An estimated 30,000 spectators watched 240 children each from the Children's Fund and Special Olympics participate in football (soccer), floor hockey, athletics, golf, bocce and mini-cricket. This was the first-ever publicly celebrated birthday event for Mandela.

20 June 2003
The Multinational Study of Attitudes toward Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities results are released in Belfast, Northern Ireland; presented as part of the 2003 Scientific Symposium, held in association with the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games. Commissioned by Special Olympics, the two-year study, led by Dr. Gary Siperstein of the University of Massachusetts Boston, is the largest and most comprehensive study ever conducted on this subject, reporting how people across the world view the roles and capabilities of persons with intellectual disabilities in the workplace, the classroom and in daily social life.

21-29 June 2003
The 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games are held in Dublin, Ireland — the first Summer Games ever held outside the United States. The world's largest sporting event for 2003 featured 7,000 athletes from more than 150 countries participating in 21 sports.

22 June 2003
Sargent Shriver retires as Chairman of Special Olympics.

30 October 2004
U.S. President George W. Bush signs Special Olympics Sport and Empowerment Act into law, marking the first time that support for Special Olympics had been secured through authorizing legislation. The bill passed unanimously in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, indicating that the U.S. government — at the highest levels — values the work of Special Olympics to promote inclusion, acceptance and understanding of people with intellectual disabilities

26 February - 5 March 2005
The 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games were held in Nagano, Japan, the first time the World Winter Games were held in Asia. The Games drew more than 1,800 athletes from 84 countries, and thousands of families, volunteers, spectators and journalists from around the world. The seven sports venues included many previously used for the 1998 Winter Olympic Games.
2006

In 2006, Special Olympics held a series of ground-breaking regional competitions around the world:
First Special Olympics Latin America Regional Games in San Salvador, El Salvador: 25 March - 2 April
First Special Olympics USA National Games in Ames, Iowa: 2-7 July
First Special Olympics European Youth Games in Rome, Italy: 30 September - 5 October
First Special Olympics International Cricket Cup in Mumbai, India: 6-13 November
5th Special Olympics Middle East/North Africa Regional Games in Dubai, United Arab Emirates: 11-15 November
10 July 2006
U.S. President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush hosted a special tribute to Special Olympics at the White House, commemorating the completion of the movement’s five-year growth campaign to reach 1 million new athletes.

November 2006
Special Olympics New York officially launches its Urban Initiative. The New York City Urban Initiative is the first step in Special Olympics’ overall Urban Strategy to create model urban programs that unite government leaders, corporate leaders, entertainers, the cultural communities and athletes to bring change through Special Olympics.

29 June 2007
Special Olympics launches the first Global Law Enforcement Torch Run in which the Flame of Hope™ travels the globe in a single event, covering five continents, leading up to the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai, China.

2-11 October 2007
Almost 7,500 Special Olympics athletes will attend the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai, China.