23 December 2011, Singapore – Singapore’s Special Olympics Athletes have brought home 37 medials (12 gold, 13 silver and 12 bronze) at the 2011 World Games in Athens. The Singapore five-a-side football team won in Athens, beating Chile 3-2 in a tense penalty shootout. Also this year, Salihin Sinai became the first Special Olympian to scale Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak.
In 2012, they hope to continue this success while representing Singapore at more regional and international events.
The Special Olympics is a global organization, providing sports training and athletic competition in 32 Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Through sport, they provide continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, increase confidence and demonstrate courage, moving towards more inclusive, tolerant communities.
Across Asia-Pacific, there are 915,000 athletes taking part in 16,000 events annually, with the number of participants increasing by almost 20% annually.
Here’s how you can support:
- Visit the Special Olympics’ Facebook Pledge application and click on the ‘Pledges’ tab. Pledge your support through Facebook likes, status updates and tweets and by making donations and volunteering through this application that was developed by BBDO/Proximity. Share this with your friends and spread the message.
- Support the Special Olympics Flag Day on Christmas Eve from 9am to 3pm by donating as much as you can in the spirit of giving.
Interesting Facts and Figures about Special Olympics Singapore:
- Special Olympics features athletes globally and is held once every 4 years
- Over 7,000 athletes from 170 countries took part in 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens Greece
- “Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in my attempt” is the Special Olympics Athlete’s oath
- The first ever Special Olympics were hosted by Chicago in 1968
- The Singapore Special Olympics team depends entirely on volunteers, corporates, civic organisations and individuals for the funds and manpower to run programmes
- Over 178 countries have Special Olympics programmes
- Over 21 million people around the world help support the Special Olympics
- 915,000 Special Olympics athletes from 23 Countries are from Asia Pacific
- There are 16,000 competitive Special Olympics competitive events annually
- Singapore has 1,500 Special Olympics Athletes
