This week they will come — from Argentina to Zambia, Bangladesh to Belarus. They will compete for hundreds of medals, inspire thousands of fans and win over countless hearts.
It will be the single largest international sporting event Los Angeles has seen since it hosted the Summer Olympics in 1984.
The Special Olympics World Games begin Saturday. It is a nine-day affair that will scatter about 6,500 athletes from 165 countries — all striving for gold, silver, bronze and award ribbons in a broad range of largely Olympic-style competitions. The 1984 Summer Olympics, by comparison, hosted 140 nations.
But organizers hope the nearly 500,000 spectators that are expected to attend the 25 different competitions to come away with more than just an appreciation of the competition at the venues.
Patrick McClenahan, president and chief executive officer of the 2015 Special Olympics World Games, said this will be the biggest World Games since the first one debuted 47 years ago at Soldier Field in Chicago. With the explosion of social media since that last World Games in Athens in 2011 and a massive television deal with ESPN to televise all of the events here, the message of inclusion will be everywhere.
The Special Olympics World Games feature only athletes with intellectual disabilities — the result of genetics, an injury or disease that may have developed at birth or later in life. Common intellectual disabilities include Down syndrome and autism spectrum disorders.
The games are meant to showcase the athletes and individuals and not to have them be defined by their intellectual disability. With an estimated 6.5 million people in the United States and as many as 200 million people worldwide having an intellectual disability, McClanhan said the World Games provide the public with a chance to see each as a person and athlete.
“We believe it will be an integral part of the campaign to get people from all cultures and all walks of life to encourage the athletes and to elevate an awareness of their value to the community,” McClenhan said.
This year’s summer World Games is the first one to take place on American soil in 16 years. In that time, it’s gone more global than ever. South Korea hosted the Winter World Games in 2013 and Greece hosted the Summer World Games in 2011.
The scale is unlike any of the previous games, with more athletes from more countries than ever before. The United States will have the largest delegation with 480 athletes while Kosovo will be the smallest contingent with four.
Most of the country delegations are arriving Tuesday and Wednesday — landing at LAX and having a red carpet welcome at Loyola Marymount University. Two nations have already arrived — New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates.
THOUSANDS OF VOLUNTEERS
The LA2015 organizing committee also has more than 9,000 working volunteers working at the nine sporting venues that include UCLA, USC, Griffith Park and Long Beach. Metrolink, an official partner of these games, will be running extra trains over the nine days and has included a map and schedule link on its website to encourage users to stay off the roads and reduce traffic.
Officials announced last week more that 20,000 people have registered since the beginning of July to be a part of the “Fans in the Stands” program. That effort seeks to ensure seats are filled and there are plenty of people to cheer the athletes. So far, more than 121,000 have registered to be a part of that program and at least six sports — beach volleyball, gymnastics, judo, kayaking and sailing — aren’t taking any more preregistered fans.
While all of the sporting events are free and preregistering isn’t required, tickets must be purchased for the opening ceremony.
Those tickets were still available for the opening ceremonies late last week; they range in price was from $47 to $120. The ceremony is expected to hold 50,000..
The ceremony, which will include the lighting of the Olympic Flame at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, will be a star-studded affair with Stevie Wonder, Avril Lavigne and a range of Olympic athletes that includes Michael Phelps and Rafer Johnson participating. First lady Michelle Obama will officially open the games and the torch will be lit by a surprise guest — always a Special Olympics athlete.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said the World Games was a perfect fit for the city.
“These athletes ... embody the bold spirt of our city,” he said. “Because L.A. is where you come to make your dreams a reality.”
Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa made the pitch to bring the Special Olympics to the city and the budget for hosting the games is approximately $60 million — funded through private donors, corporate sponsorships and partners.
Timothy Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics, announced the city had won the bid in 2011. Shriver is the son of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who founded the Special Olympics nearly 50 years ago.
WORLD GAMES DIFFER
There is a difference between the Special Olympics movement and the Special Olympics World Games. The Special Olympics movement is the organization that has 4.2 million athletes in 170 countries participating in more than 70,000 competitions annually.
The World Games are the organization’s international event that takes place every four years — just like the Olympics.
Also, like the Olympics, the Winter Games and Summer Games are on staggered four-year cycles so there is only a two-year gap between any World Games. The 2017 Winter World Games will be held in Austria.
But there are some key structural differences between the Olympics and Special Olympics.
While billed as an international competition with athletes arriving from their home countries, the World Games downplays the nationalism seen at the Olympics. During the opening and closing ceremonies, the athletes do not come in carrying their nations’ flags. At the awards ceremonies, national anthems aren’t played. Instead, a universal piece of music derived for the Special Olympics is played.
And while gold, silver and bronze medals are presented, ribbons are handed out for fourth- through eighth-place finishers as well.
Jan Palchikoff, senior vice president for competition and athletic experience for the World Games, said much care has been taken to make sure all of the athletes competing in events are similarly skilled as well.
Palchikoff, a former two-time Olympian, said by keeping the athletes with similar skill levels in varying competitions, it provides drama for the fans and the feeling among the athletes that any of them could win on any given day.
“No matter what the level, it should be a competitive event,” she said. “Once in awhile you’ll see someone who just toasts the field, but usually they’re all within reach of each other.”
Some of the events are modified from standard international rules to accommodate the competitors, Palchikoff said.
But she said the differences also can’t suppress one key similarity.
“People want to do their best and competition brings that out in a person,” she said. “And the athletes that will be out there? They are competitive.”
WHO IS COMING TO SPECIAL OLYMPICS WORLD GAMES OPENING CEREMONY
Directed by Debbie Allen
• First lady Michelle Obama
• Stevie Wonder
• Avril Lavigne
• Nicole Sherzinger
• O.A.R
• Cody Simpson
• Siedah Garrett
• J Balvin and Becky G.
• Eva Longoria
• Lauren Potter
• Yao Ming
• Jimmy Kimmel
• Michael Phelps
• Greg Louganis
• Stephanie McMahon
TICKETS
To buy tickets, which range in price from $47 to $120, go to this link.
WHAT YOU CAN’T BRING
• Drugs or alcohol
• Pop-up tents in venues
• Animals (assistive animals OK)
• Fireworks
• Firearms and weapons, including knives
• No smoking
• Horns, noisemakers, musical instruments or large music players
• Professional cameras with lenses longer than 3-inches.
• Video or audio recording equipment
• Frisbees, balls
• Hard or soft-sided coolers
• Skateboards, roller skates or Rollerblades
• Outside food or drink
• Signs, posters, placards or banners larger than 30x36 inches. Supports no longer than 18 inches in length and can’t exceed 3/4-inch in width and 1/4-inch thickness
More spectator information can be found here.
