100 day countdown celebrated for Special Olympics in Athens
LAST week Thursday marked the 100 days to go until the world?s most inspiring sporting event, the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens, Greece.
?This year?s Special Olympics World Summer Games are coming to the home of the ancient Olympics, to the birthplace of modern sport. There our athletes will lay claim to the Olympic ideals and claim them as their own. They will assert their vision of human greatness defined by the bravery, the joy and the determination of the human spirit,? said Timothy P. Shriver, chairman and CEO of Special Olympics International.
?Our Games this summer in Athens will focus on excellence in sports, empowering youth both with and without intellectual disabilities to carry on our mission of acceptance and inclusion all over the world. They will focus on promoting the power and urgency of unity.?
Cassius Moetie, Special Olympics Namibia chairperson, pointed out that notable names from across the world are scheduled to attend the Games, including David Archuleta, Nadia Comaneci, Bart Conner, Brooklyn Decker, Donna DeVarona, Vladimir Grbic, Vittorio Grigolo, Tom Hoff, Michelle Kwan, Maria Menounos, Yao Ming, Dikembe Mutombo, John Naber, Sam Perkins, Alkistis Protopsalti, Pauline Davis Thompson, Vanessa Williams and Zhang Ziyi, amongst others.
?Those will be just a few of the tens of thousands of people who will converge in Athens to celebrate the 7,000 Special Olympics athletes representing nearly 180 countries, including Namibia,? Moetie added.
Moetie said from 25th June to 4th July 2011, the world?s most inspiring athletes will compete in 22 different Olympic-type sports.
?The 13th Special Olympics World Summer Games will be the largest sporting event in the world in 2011 and the first major sporting event in Athens since the Olympics were held there in 2004,? Moetie said.
Alternating between Summer Games and Winter Games, Special Olympics World Games bring public attention to the talents and capabilities of people with intellectual disabilities, helping to change attitudes and break down barriers that excluded them from the mainstream of the community. The last Special Olympics Winter Games were held in Boise, Idaho in 2009.
?The last World Summer Games were held in Shanghai, China in 2007 and Special Olympics Namibia under the vanguard of the FNB Foundation as its principal sponsor for the past 10 years dispatched a strong team to China and the team returned to Namibia with a couple of silver and bronze medals,? Moetie recalled.
?This year?s Special Olympics World Summer Games are coming to the home of the ancient Olympics, to the birthplace of modern sport. There our athletes will lay claim to the Olympic ideals and claim them as their own. They will assert their vision of human greatness defined by the bravery, the joy and the determination of the human spirit,? said Timothy P. Shriver, chairman and CEO of Special Olympics International.
?Our Games this summer in Athens will focus on excellence in sports, empowering youth both with and without intellectual disabilities to carry on our mission of acceptance and inclusion all over the world. They will focus on promoting the power and urgency of unity.?
Cassius Moetie, Special Olympics Namibia chairperson, pointed out that notable names from across the world are scheduled to attend the Games, including David Archuleta, Nadia Comaneci, Bart Conner, Brooklyn Decker, Donna DeVarona, Vladimir Grbic, Vittorio Grigolo, Tom Hoff, Michelle Kwan, Maria Menounos, Yao Ming, Dikembe Mutombo, John Naber, Sam Perkins, Alkistis Protopsalti, Pauline Davis Thompson, Vanessa Williams and Zhang Ziyi, amongst others.
?Those will be just a few of the tens of thousands of people who will converge in Athens to celebrate the 7,000 Special Olympics athletes representing nearly 180 countries, including Namibia,? Moetie added.
Moetie said from 25th June to 4th July 2011, the world?s most inspiring athletes will compete in 22 different Olympic-type sports.
?The 13th Special Olympics World Summer Games will be the largest sporting event in the world in 2011 and the first major sporting event in Athens since the Olympics were held there in 2004,? Moetie said.
Alternating between Summer Games and Winter Games, Special Olympics World Games bring public attention to the talents and capabilities of people with intellectual disabilities, helping to change attitudes and break down barriers that excluded them from the mainstream of the community. The last Special Olympics Winter Games were held in Boise, Idaho in 2009.
?The last World Summer Games were held in Shanghai, China in 2007 and Special Olympics Namibia under the vanguard of the FNB Foundation as its principal sponsor for the past 10 years dispatched a strong team to China and the team returned to Namibia with a couple of silver and bronze medals,? Moetie recalled.
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