Special Olympics

by Bruce Fenton

No mega-million endorsement deals, no management entourages flocking around a victor in these Olympics. Instead, the rewards for victory are the cheers of fellow competitors. No “show-up” money for the top stars; every athlete is the star, there are too many to put on a Wheaties box, for these athletes are Special Olympians in every sense of the word.

At the Special Olympics' Annual Winter Games, very special developmentally disabled athletes competed in four winter sports for medals, cheers, and hugs from teammates, family, and coaches. They each qualify to compete based upon performances at qualifying events. They race on skis and snowboards down alpine racecourses, on cross-country skies and on snowshoes through the woods.

The Special Olympics, started in the 1960’s by the Kennedy family in Massachusetts, has grown into a worldwide movement with over 1,000,000 athletes from all over the globe competing. In the Northern California organization, more than 13,000 compete each year in 19 different sports and 7 program championships.

The athletes, ages eight and up, train for their sports under the direction of volunteer coaches. The Winter Games participants begin with weeks of dry land training followed by 6 to 10 days of on-snow preparation. They are divided into competitive categories by ability and then age.
All athlete expenses and equipment are provided by the Special Olympics organization. The Special Olympics organization relies on corporate sponsorship to pay the biggest share of the expenses, while individual donations from a variety of fund raising events help pick up the difference. Additionally, individual and corporate sponsors donate most of the food and hundreds volunteers and coaches supervise and assist with the activities.

It is very hard to capture with words the joy and the spirit of the events days. It is equally hard to comprehend that 30 years ago many of these athletes would have been institutionalized because these opportunities to grow as individuals did not exist.

Bruce Fenton is a financial consultant, a writer, and the president and founder of Atlantic Financial Inc. Bruce welcomes inquiries, comments, and questions. He can be reached by contacting The Fenton Report.