Tonight the Special Olympics World Games start in Berlin with an opening ceremony. In addition to the parade of athletes, the lighting of the Special Olympics flame is one of the highlights. 50,000 spectators are expected.
The Special Olympics World Games will start in Berlin with the grand opening ceremony on Saturday evening (8:15 p.m./rbb television). Towards the end of the two and a half hour event in the Olympic Stadium, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will officially open the World Games for the mentally and multiply handicapped.
In addition to the parade of athletes, the lighting of the Special Olympics flame will be one of the highlights. 50,000 spectators are expected.
By June 25, around 7,000 athletes from 190 nations will compete in 26 sports at the largest multisport event in Germany since the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. Even before the official opening, the first rhythmic gymnastics competitions will be held.
The most important information about this major sporting event:
What are the Special Olympics World Games?
The Special Olympics designate a global sports movement that primarily offers people with intellectual disabilities access to sports. The Special Olympics originated in the United States in the 1960s. The first Special Olympics International Summer Games, a sporting event with around 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities, also took place there in Chicago in July 1968.
The Special Olympics now have numerous regional subsidiary organizations that work with various clubs, associations, institutions and organizations to promote inclusive sport. The Special Olympics World Games, which are now being held in Berlin for the first time, take place every two years.
Who participates in the Special Olympics?
While the Paralympic Games offer competitions for people with physical disabilities every four years, following the Olympic Games, the Special Olympics World Games only compete for people with mental and multiple disabilities. The Special Olympics themselves speak on their website of “people with limitations in their cognitive abilities”, which are often genetic and caused by Down syndrome.
Since there are also a wide variety of forms, the athletes at the Special Olympics World Games first complete so-called classification competitions. In contrast to the Paralympic Games, however, the athletes are not divided according to the type and severity of their impairments, but solely on the basis of their performance.
In which sports do the athletes compete in the Special Olympics?
Numerous sports that are on the program in Berlin from next weekend are the same as at the Olympic Games. These include athletics and football as well as canoeing, cycling and judo. There are also somewhat more unusual sports such as boccia, futsal or the power triathlon discipline. There are also sports – such as basketball – in which athletes with intellectual disabilities compete with people without disabilities in a team: in so-called ‘unified teams’.
How the competitions at the Special Olympics World Games work
At the Special Olympics World Games, thousands of athletes from all over the world with mental and multiple disabilities come to Berlin to compete in various disciplines. An overview of how the competitions work.more
When are the competitions held?
After the start of rhythmic gymnastics on Saturday (June 17), the competitions of the other sports will gradually start in the following days. The first final decisions will be made on Sunday (June 18) in gymnastics and on Monday (June 19) in open water swimming, powerlifting and athletics.
While the competitions in many sports stretch over the entire duration of the Special Olympics World Games, the canoeists only start on Tuesday (June 20). The days with the most decisions are Friday (June 23) and Saturday (June 24): medals will then be distributed in 23 of the 26 sports. You can find more information about the timing here [berlin2023.org].
Where in Berlin do the competitions take place?
The competition venues stretch across the entire cityscape and beyond – from the Olympic Park to Wannsee and the Bad Saarow Golf Club. The two main competition venues are the Olympic grounds, where the track and field, hockey and soccer competitions are held, for example, and the Messe Berlin, where basketball, badminton and table tennis, among other things, can be watched.
There are also competitions in the swimming and jumping halls in the Europasportpark on Landsberger Allee, canoeing in Grünau, sailing on Wannsee, bowling on Warschauer Strasse, as well as 3×3 basketball, beach volleyball and cycling around the Brandenburg Gate and Alexanderplatz. You can find a detailed overview with the addresses of all competition venues here [berlin2023.org].
Run, torch, run!
The ways of fire are unfathomable. Sometimes people who are enthusiastic about sports use it to light a torch and run around happily – this is also the case for the Special Olympics World Games in Berlin. A comment by Fabian Friedmannmore
Are there opening and graduations?
Yes. The opening ceremony will take place on Saturday (June 17) from 8:15 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. in the Olympic Stadium (live on rbb television; with a fifteen-minute break for the news). Then, among other things, the torch of the Special Olympics World Games, the ‘Flame of Hope’ – after a torch relay through the 16 host towns in Berlin and Brandenburg – solemnly lit. The Special Olympics will be rounded off on June 25 (7 p.m. to 10 p.m.) with a closing ceremony at the Brandenburg Gate.
Do you need tickets to watch the competitions?
no If you want to follow all the competitions of the Special Olympics World Games in Berlin live, in color and as close as possible, you can’t avoid buying a ticket. The good news: There are both for the opening ceremony on Saturday in the Olympic Stadium and for individual competition days with this link [berlin2023.org] still tickets. Sports enthusiasts also have the option of purchasing a ‘season ticket’ for EUR 23.00 (reduced) or EUR 31.00, which gives them access to all competitions.
In some sports, access to the competitions is even free for spectators: 3×3 basketball, beach volleyball, open water swimming, golf, canoeing, cycling and sailing. Only accredited persons are admitted to the bowling competitions. On this page you will find a corresponding overview [berlin2023.org].
Are the Special Olympics on TV?
Yes. rbb television will broadcast the opening ceremony on Saturday (June 17) from 8:15 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. – with a short, fifteen-minute rbb24 news break. In addition, the same evening from 11:40 p.m. to 12:40 a.m. there is a summary in the ARD sports show. In addition, there will be programs on the ARD program on Sunday (June 18), Tuesday (June 20) and Thursday (June 22).
ZDF reports on the other days with “sportstudio live” [zdf.de]. The closing ceremony will be broadcast live on Sunday (June 25) from 7:30 p.m. in the ZDF Mediathek and up sportstudio.de transfer.
Broadcast: rbb UM6, June 17, 2023, 6 p.m
