2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games

Multi-sport event in Berlin, Germany
16th Special Olympics World Summer Games
16. Special Olympics Weltspiele
Host cityBerlin, Germany
Motto#UnbeatableTogether
(German: #ZusammenUnschlagbar)
Nations178
Athletes6,500
Events26 Sports
Opening17 June
Closing25 June
Opened byFrank-Walter Steinmeier
Torch lighterSophie Rensmann [de]
Main venueOlympiapark Berlin
WebsiteOfficial website
Summer
Winter

The 2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games, officially known as the XVI Special Olympic World Games or Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023 (German: Special Olympics Weltspiele 2023), was the 16th summer Special Olympics. Held in Berlin, Germany, the Special Olympics lasted nine days, from 17 to 25 June 2023.[1] It marked the first time that Germany has hosted the Special Olympics World Games.[2] About 6,500 athletes and unified partners from approximately 178 countries competed in 26 sports, supported by 3,000 coaches and 18,000 volunteers.[3]

Host selection

The bid process was opened in November 2017.[4] Berlin, Germany was selected as the host city on 13 November 2018 at the Global Athlete Congress in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.[5] On 30 January 2020, Berlin was officially confirmed as the host city for the games.[6]

Venues

Events took place in fifteen venues:[7]

  • Olympiapark Berlin
    • Olympiastadion (opening ceremony)
    • August-Bier-Platz (futsal)
    • Eissporthalle Charlottenburg [de] (roller skating)
    • Hanns-Braun-Stadion (athletics)
    • Hockey-Stadion [de] (field hockey)
    • Horst-Korber-Sportzentrum (handball)
    • Maifeld (football)
    • Reitclub am Olympiapark (equestrian)
  • Messe Berlin (badminton, basketball, bocce, artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, judo, powerlifting, table tennis, volleyball)
  • SC Brandenburg Berlin (tennis)
  • Neptunbrunnen (3x3 basketball)
  • Straße des 17. Juni (cycling, closing ceremony)
  • BeachMitte (beach volleyball)
  • Schwimm- und Sprunghalle im Europasportpark [de] (SSE) (swimming)
  • Wannsee (sailing)
  • Bowling World on Mercedes-Platz (bowling)
  • regatta course Grünau (kayak, open water swimming)
  • Golf Club Bad Saarow (golf)

The Games

Ceremonies

Opening ceremony

Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony was held at the Olympiastadion on 17 June 2023. President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier opened the games officially. Special Olympics chairman Timothy Shriver, German chancellor Olaf Scholz, Mayor of Berlin Kai Wegner, and former Olympic athletes Dirk Nowitzki and Felix Neureuther also took part in the ceremony. The torch was lit by Special Olympic tennis player Sophie Rensmann. Blue Man Group took part in a couple musical performances during the ceremony.

Closing ceremony

The closing ceremony was held on Straße des 17. Juni in front of the Brandenburg Gate on 25 June 2023.

Sports

Competitions were held in the following 26 sports:[8]

2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games

Basketball 3x3 made its debut at the Special Olympics and Field Hockey was featured as a demonstration sport.

Medals

The top three finishers of each competition were honored with gold, silver and bronze medals, while the fourth to eighth place finishers received ribbons with their placement printed on them. More than 4000 medals and 6600 placement ribbons were presented at 1,334 award ceremonies.[9]

Medal table

Unlike the Olympic and Paralympic Games the Special Olympics do not provide an official medal table, since there is supposed to be no competitive pressure among the nations. Apart from the medals and placement ribbons, participants who were disqualified or did not finish their competition were also awarded with participation ribbons in order to promote sportsmanship.[10][11][12]

Source: [13]

Calendar

All times and dates use Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)
OC Opening ceremony ● Event competitions 1 Gold medal events CC Closing ceremony
June 2023 June Events
17th
Sat 		18th
Sun 		19th
Mon 		20th
Tue 		21st
Wed 		22nd
Thu 		23rd
Fri 		24th
Sat 		25th
Sun
Ceremonies OC CC —
Aquatics Marathon swimming ● 5 5
Swimming ● ● 14 9 7 9 5 44
Athletics ● 12 34 19 15 10 6 1 97
Badminton ● ● ● 3 3 2 2 10
Basketball ● ● ● ● ● ● 4 4
Boccia ● ● 1 1 2 2 6
Bowling ● ● 9 2 1 1 1 14
Cycling ● ● 5 2 2 2 1 1 13
Equestrian ● 9 2 2 2 3 2 20
Field hockey ● ● ● ● ● ● 1 1
Football ● ● ● ● ● 2 2 4
Futsal ● ● ● ● 3 3
Golf ● ● ● 5 5
Artistic gymnastics ● 48 48
Rhythmic gymnastics ● 21 44 53 12 130
Handball ● ● ● ● ● ● 2 2
Judo ● ● 6 6 6 18
Kayaking ● 4 ● 5 9
Powerlifting 18 21 10 10 10 10 79
Roller skating ● ● 11 2 2 2 17
Sailing ● ● ● ● 3 3
Table tennis ● ● 2 2 2 2 8
Tennis ● ● ● ● ● 8 6 14
Beach volleyball ● ● ● ● ● ● 2 2
Volleyball ● ● ● ● ● ● 2 2
Daily medal events 21 79 156 64 58 58 113 4 553
Cumulative total 21 100 256 320 378 436 549 553 553
June 2023 17th
Sat 		18th
Sun 		19th
Mon 		20th
Tue 		21st
Wed 		22nd
Thu 		23rd
Fri 		24th
Sat 		25th
Sun 		Total events
June

Participating National Programs

Below is a list of all 178 participating delegations. The number of competitors per delegation is indicated in parentheses.

Delegations to the 2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games
  •  Albania (10)
  •  Algeria (23)
  •  Andorra (13)
  •  Antigua and Barbuda (4)
  •  Argentina (10)
  •  Armenia (4)
  •  Aruba (17)
  •  Australia (64)
  •  Austria (74)
  •  Azerbaijan (49)
  •  Bahamas (7)
  •  Bahrain (15)
  •  Bangladesh (79)
  •  Belgium (88)
  •  Belize (4)
  •  Benin (9)
  •  Bermuda (19)[14]
  •  Bhutan (4)
  •  Bolivia (6)
  • Bonaire (6)
  •  Bosnia and Herzegovina (25)
  •  Botswana (26)
  •  Brazil (25)
  •  Bulgaria (40)
  •  Burkina Faso (23)
  •  Burundi (3)
  •  Cambodia (4)
  •  Cameroon (2)
  •  Canada (89)
  •  Cape Verde (3)
  •  Cayman Islands (16)
  •  Chile (38)
  •  China (89)
  •  Chinese Taipei (66)
  •  Colombia (19)
  •  Costa Rica (104)
  •  Croatia (12)
  •  Cuba (11)
  •  Curaçao (11)
  •  Cyprus (35)
  •  Czech Republic (54)
  •  Democratic Republic of the Congo (4)
  •  Denmark (68)
  •  Dominica (8)
  •  Dominican Republic (13)
  •  East Timor (6)
  •  Ecuador (18)
  •  Egypt (65)
  •  El Salvador (17)
  •  Estonia (32)
  •  Eswatini (2)
  •  Ethiopia (4)
  •  Faroe Islands (12)
  •  Fiji (12)
  •  Finland (65)
  •  France (64)
  •  The Gambia (2)
  •  Georgia (4)
  •  Germany (408) (Host)
  •  Ghana (18)
  •  Gibraltar (26)
  •  Great Britain (82)
  •  Greece (67) (Hellas)
  • Guadeloupe (17)
  •  Guatemala (30)
  •  Guinea (2)
  •  Guinea-Bissau (2)
  •  Guyana (3)
  •  Haiti (6)
  •  Honduras (13)
  •  Hong Kong (81)
  •  Hungary (77)
  •  Iceland (30)
  •  India (195) (Bharat)[15][16]
  •  Indonesia (25)[17]
  •  Iran (24)[18]
  •  Iraq (24)
  • Ireland (73)
  •  Isle of Man (18)
  •  Israel (38)
  •  Italy (96)
  •  Ivory Coast (73)
  •  Jamaica (47)
  •  Japan (45) (Nippon)
  •  Jordan (20)
  •  Kazakhstan (53)
  •  Kenya (66)
  •  Kosovo (4)
  •  Kuwait (26)
  •  Kyrgyzstan (6)
  •  Laos (3)
  •  Latvia (20)
  •  Lebanon (17)
  •  Lesotho (3)
  •  Libya (17)
  •  Liechtenstein (6)
  •  Lithuania (38)[19]
  •  Luxembourg (26)
  •  Macau (40)
  •  Madagascar (3)
  •  Malawi (14)
  •  Malaysia (22)
  •  Maldives (6)
  •  Mali (12)
  •  Malta (28)
  •  Marshall Islands (2)
  •  Mauritania (5)
  •  Mauritius (23)
  •  Mexico (26)
  •  Moldova (18)
  •  Monaco (30)
  •  Montenegro (10)
  •  Mongolia (44)
  •  Morocco (46)
  •  Mozambique (3)
  •  Namibia (9)
  •  Nauru (2)
  •  Netherlands (59)
  •  New Zealand (39)
  •  Nicaragua (18)
  •  Nigeria (3)
  •  North Macedonia (19)
  •  Norway (43)
  •  Oman (36)
  •  Pakistan (85)
  •  Palau (2)
  •  Palestine (25)
  •  Panama (18)
  •  Papua New Guinea (4)
  •  Paraguay (55)
  •  Peru (23)
  •  Philippines (8) (Pilipinas)[20]
  •  Poland (70)
  •  Portugal (40)
  •  Puerto Rico (49)
  •  Qatar (6)
  •  Republic of the Congo (2)
  •  Romania (31)[21]
  •  Rwanda (16)
  •  Saint Kitts and Nevis (14)
  •  Saint Lucia (11)
  •  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (9)
  •  Samoa (11)
  •  San Marino (14)
  •  Saudi Arabia (84)
  •  Senegal (30)
  •  Serbia (60)
  •  Seychelles (10)
  •  Singapore (30)
  • Sint Maarten (2)
  •  Slovakia (51)
  •  Slovenia (26)
  •  Spain (76)
  •  Sweden (41)
  •  Switzerland (73)
  •  South Africa (63)[22][23]
  •  South Korea (104)
  •  South Sudan (3)
  •  Suriname (17)
  •  Syria (16)
  •  Tajikistan (4)
  •  Tanzania (20)
  •  Thailand (35)
  •  Togo (6)
  •  Trinidad and Tobago (16)
  •  Tunisia (17)
  •  Turkey (11)
  •  Turkmenistan (11)
  •  Uganda (29)
  •  Ukraine (23)
  •  United Arab Emirates (101)
  •  United States (128)
  •  Uruguay (58)
  •  Uzbekistan (23)
  •  Venezuela (21)
  •  Vietnam (6)
  •  Zambia (9)
  •  Zimbabwe (12)

Marketing

Logo, branding and slogan

The logo and slogan were unveiled on December 14, 2021, at the Sky Deutschland studio. The emblem, which brings together solid colors and images of Berlin, was designed with the help of Special Olympics athletes. During a workshop, they shared their thoughts and feelings about the Games and inclusion. The list of feelings participants chose to be incorporated in the logo, which are represented by shapes and the five main logo colors, are joy, togetherness, excitement, pride and passion. Additionally, iconic symbols of Berlin are used to welcome athletes and visitors to the city. The Berlin Bear, in green, can be found on the city's coat of arms. Logo designers also felt it was important to honor Berlin's ability to overcome a past of separation and isolation after the city was divided at the end of World War II. The Brandenburg Gate, in red, and Fernsehturm Tower, in fuchsia, celebrate a unified city and Berlin as the capital of one Germany. Overall, the logo was created to evoke a sense of unity, diversity, playfulness and connection. The slogan #UnbeatableTogether or in German #ZusammenUnschlagbar represents Togetherness and overcoming borders collectively are main elements of the logo.[24]

References

  1. ^ "Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023". SpecialOlympics.org. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  2. ^ "Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023 / 17 to 24 June". Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  3. ^ "The Berlin 2023 Games are over". berlin2023.org. 25 June 2023.
  4. ^ "Global search for 2023 Special Olympics World Games host begins". aipsmedia.com. 13 November 2017.
  5. ^ "Berlin, Germany selected to host the 2023 Special Olympics World Games". Special Olympics. 13 November 2018.
  6. ^ "Special Olympics Confirms Berlin as Host of 2023 World Games". Special Olympics. 30 January 2020.
  7. ^ "Our Venues for #Berlin2023". Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  8. ^ "Our Sports". berlin2023.org.
  9. ^ "The Berlin 2023 Games are over". berlin2023.org. 25 June 2023.
  10. ^ "Special Olympics: Verlieren nicht möglich". ZDF.de (in German). 2023-06-20.
  11. ^ "Wieso die Special Olympics World Games ohne Medaillenspiegel auskommen". Die Rheinpfalz (in German). 2023-06-15.
  12. ^ "Special Olympics: Wegen zu guter Leistung disqualifiziert". Süddeutsche.de (in German). 2023-06-22. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  13. ^ "Competition Schedule – Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023". results.specialolympics.org. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  14. ^ "Special Olympic Team To Compete In Berlin", Bernews
  15. ^ "Special Olympics Bharat", The Times of India
  16. ^ "255-member strong contingent to represent India at Special Olympics World Summer Games", sportstar.thehindu.com, 2023-06-05
  17. ^ "Award/Achievement". Special Olympics Indonesia. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  18. ^ "Iran to compete in Special Olympics World Games", TehranTimes
  19. ^ "Prezidentas išlydėjo Lietuvos rinktinę į specialiąją olimpiadą – į sportininkus kreipėsi lengvai suprantama kalba", sportas24.lt
  20. ^ Malasig, Jeline (16 May 2023). "Philippines to send six athletes to 2023 Special Olympics World Games". InterAksyon. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  21. ^ "Romanian athletes compete in Special Olympics World Games in Berlin". Romania Insider. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  22. ^ "Team SA brings home 49 medals from the Special Olympics". kfm.co.za. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
  23. ^ Manaleng, Palesa. "Special Olympics World Games: Team SA medal tally at 49". ewn.co.za. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
  24. ^ "Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023 Logo Reveal". Special Olympics. 21 December 2021.

External links

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‡Cancelled due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine