2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games

The 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games (Arabic: 2019 الألعاب الأولمبية الصيفية الخاصة بألعاب العالم الصيفية, 2019 al'aleab al'uwlimbiat alsayfiat alkhasat bi'aleab alealam alsayfia) were a special olympics multi-sport event for athletes with intellectual disabilities in the tradition of the Special Olympics movement. It was held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates from March 14–21, 2019.[1] ESPN offered international coverage of the games.[2]

15th Special Olympics World Summer Games
الألعاب الصيفية العالمية الخامسة عشرة للأولمبياد الخاص
Host cityAbu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
MottoMeet the Determined
(Arabic: تلبية العزم)
Nations190+
Athletes7,500
Events22 Sports
OpeningMarch 14
ClosingMarch 21
Opened byMohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Main venueZayed Sports City Stadium
WebsiteOfficial website
Summer
Winter

The 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games was the first Special Olympics games to take place in the Middle East, were also the first to be held in winter/autumn in the host city and the largest sports and humanitarian event recorded, featuring 200 National Programs, more than 7,000 athletes and 20,000 registered volunteers.[3] Since 2017 and following its national policy, the United Arab Emirates coined the term "determination" instead of "disability", referring to disabled people as "People of Determination".[3]

Host selection

Three finalists were chosen from the countries which had submitted bids to host the games: Australia, Germany (which was chosen latter to host the 2023 Games), and South Africa.[4] However, all three countries had withdrawn their bids by April 2015.

In November 2016, it was announced that the Emirate of Abu Dhabi would host the 2019 Summer Games. This was the first time that the Special Olympics were to be held in the Middle East / North Africa Region. Due to the region's extreme climate, the games were held during the local late winter/early spring season for the first time, from March 14–21, 2019.[5]

Ceremonies

Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi.

It was held at Zayed Sports City Stadium which also held the FIFA Club World Cup in 2017 and 2018 and the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.The headliners of the ceremonies included Avril Lavigne, Hussain Al Jassmi, Assala Nasri, Tamer Hosny, Paul Oakenfold, Sumi Jo, Now United, and Luis Fonsi.

Closing ceremony

The closing ceremony took place on 21 March 2019 at the Zayed Sports City Stadium where the Special Olympics flag was handed over from Abu Dhabi to Jämtland County, Sweden as the hosts of the 2021 Special Olympics World Winter Games. The headliners of the ceremonies were Nicole Scherzinger, Keala Settle, Now United, Hamad Al Ameri, Rashed Al Majed and Waleed Al Shami. Before the ceremonies the music video of the game's theme song "Right Where I'm Supposed To Be" by Ryan Tedder, Avril Lavigne, Luis Fonsi, Hussain Al Jassmi, Assala Nasri and Tamer Hosny was premiered.

Venues

Events were held at nine venues across two emirates:[6]

Abu Dhabi

Dubai

Sports

The following competitions took place:[7]

2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games

Medals

Nations
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 South Korea1256061246
2 United States1138063256
3 Russia413531107
4 Italy343735106
5 Colombia31151056
6 Ireland29292785
7 France29184289
8 China25283184
9 Denmark24221056
10 India17362982
11 Chinese Taipei16162052
12 Netherlands14181749
13 Mexico12262866
14 Indonesia116421
15 Great Britain10232255
16 Turkey710623
17 Japan6141232
18 Malaysia56314
19 Ukraine471223
20 Venezuela41611
21 Spain4127
22 Germany3101629
23 Canada310922
24 Iran38314
25 El Salvador37616
26 Sweden3519
27 Belgium3058
28 Australia281020
29 New Zealand2103
30 Poland1719
31 Croatia1539
32 Brazil1438
33 South Africa1315
34 Kazakhstan1102
35 Kosovo1023
36  Switzerland0448
37 Slovenia0415
38 Belarus0235
39 Greece0202
40 Georgia0112
41 Austria0101
 Iraq0101
 Luxembourg0101
44 Philippines0022
45 Argentina0011
 Bulgaria0011
 Lithuania0011
Totals (47 entries)5895735451707

Participating nations
Delegations to the 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games (according to the protocolar order)[8][9]

Marketing

Logo and branding

The logo was unveiled on March 25, 2017, during the handover at the closing ceremony of the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Graz, Austria. The logo was projected on the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The logo was inspired by palm fronds woven together in an eastern Arabian cultural technique known in Gulf Arabic as khoos (Arabic: خوص), with the Special Olympics symbol in a red circle in the middle.[11]

Sponsors

Source:[12]

Presenting partner

Official partners

Official sponsors

Official suppliers

Official supporters

Host, broadcast, media, government and venue partners and supporters

References
  1. Staff Report (16 November 2016). "Abu Dhabi to host 2019 Special Olympic World Games".
  2. Couch, Teri (2019-03-18). "Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019: Monday, March 18". ESPN MediaZone U.S. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  3. Jerusalem Post (9 March 2019). "United Arab Emirates to be First in Middle East to Host Special Olympics".
  4. "2019 Special Olympics World Games Finalists Announced". Special Olympics (specialolympics.org). Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  5. "World Games in MENA for the First Time". specialolympics.org.
  6. "Venues". English. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  7. "Home". abudhabi2019.org.
  8. "Delegations". 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games. 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games Organizing Committee, ESPN,, Special Olympics. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  9. "Athlete Directory".
  10. "Award/Achievement". Special Olympics Indonesia. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  11. "Abu Dhabi Launches Countdown to Special Olympics World Games 2019". broadwayworld.com. 27 March 2017. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  12. "Sponsors".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.