By Rike Fabia Lohmann
On June 17th the time has finally come: The 16 Special Olympics World Games will be opened in the Olympic Stadium. There will also be a real Kennedy on site. Timothy Shriver (63) is chairman of the Special Olympics movement. And nephew of former US President John F. Kennedy.
Because: His mother Eunice Kennedy Shriver launched the world’s largest sports movement for people with mental and multiple disabilities 55 years ago. Her son Timothy has carried on her legacy since her death in 2009.
“I remember my mother being angry at the way people with intellectual disabilities were treated by society,” Shriver told BZ. “That they were excluded, isolated. Even hidden.”
Shriver at the age of 14 months on the lap of his uncle John F. Kennedy Photo: picture alliance/dpa
There have been summer sports camps for children and young people in the USA for many years. Those with disabilities were denied this fun. An absurdity for Kennedy Shriver! She wanted all children to have the same opportunity.
Shriver: “My mom just opened Camp Shriver. More than 30 kids with their carers lived with us on the farm, did sports, had fun.” And he, still a toddler himself, was right in the middle.
After the camp, competitions followed. The first “World Games”, which at that time were still limited to the USA and Canada, took place in July 1968.
This is how bombastic the Special Olympics were opened in April 2019 in the United Arab Emirates Photo: picture alliance/dpa
Kennedy Shriver’s commitment also had personal reasons: one of her sisters, Rosemary Kennedy, had a mental handicap.
The story about her: a dark spot in the family history of the 35th US President. Because she, too, was hidden from the public for a long time by her parents because of her “being different”. Shriver: “My aunt Rosemary, my mother’s sister, was a wonderful person. When she was a child herself, she was isolated, that’s true. But she always played a big role in my mother’s life, in mine and in that of my siblings. She was often with us for several days. I had a great relationship with her.”
Shriver says he never specifically planned to follow in his mother’s footsteps. He often supported his mother. This was also the case at the 1995 World Games.
“By the way, I was actually still working as a teacher at the time, was released for the games and helped with the organization,” he says.
And Shriver emphasizes: “That’s when I realized that the global Special Olympics movement was more to me than a passion. Rather, it is a calling.”