What many people don’t know is that the Special Olympics movement was conceived in Chicago. July 20 will mark 40 years since the first Special Olympics games in 1968 at Chicago’s Soldier Field. Soldier Field will once again be the site of a celebration for special needs athletes and their coaches, family, friends and supporters Saturday, July 19 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for the Born in Chicago: a free, public festival with live music, games, sporting activities, food and drink, jugglers, magicians, inflatable games.

Forty years ago, a young Chicago Park District physical education teacher from the South Side, Anne Burke--now Illinois Supreme Court Justice--took on the challenge to create a one-time local athletic competition for kids with special needs. At a time when individuals with intellectual disabilities were stigmatized and often kept separate from mainstream society, Anne Burke and the Chicago Park District saw an opportunity to integrate this segment of society into public recreational activities.

With passion and determination, and support from then-mayor Richard J. Daley, Anne approached Eunice Kennedy Shriver for support and funding. Shriver was a former Chicagoan and advocate for individuals with intellectual disabilities. With a $25,000 grant from the Kennedy Foundation, and special athletes Shriver gathered from programs across the country, the very first Special Olympics competition took place, including 1,000 special athletes, their families, coaches and volunteers, and sports legends including Chicago Blackhawk Stan Mikita and George Armstrong of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

That first Special Olympics event in Chicago ultimately set the stage for a global movement that resulted in the next 40 years of competitions worldwide for kids with special needs, eventually touching 175 countries. Most importantly, it changed society’s perception of individuals with intellectual disabilities and created a movement that not only recognized this segment of society’s ability, talent and potential, but encouraged these individuals to thrive.

The first International Special Olympics Games to be held overseas took place in 2003 in Dublin. Close to 7,000 athletes from 150 countries competed, supported by 30,000 volunteer officials and support staff. Twenty-three athletes from Illinois competed, and Anne Burke, joined by seven athletes from the first games represented Chicago in Ireland.

In 2007, the International Special Olympics went to Shanghai and the games grew to 7,500 athletes and 43,500 volunteers and event officials. Chicago power lifter Jamie Smith participated in these games and took home two bronze medals in the squat and dead lift, and two silver medals in the bench press and for the overall competition.

Today, Special Olympics and local funding arms such as Special Children’s Charities in Chicago, provide year-round sports training and athletic competition to more than 2.5 million people with intellectual disabilities in more than 180 countries, including:
* 500,000 athletes in China
* 210,000 athletes in India
* 600 athletes in Afghanistan
* 4,400 athletes in Rwanda and
* 550,000 athletes in the United States

For more information on Special Olympics programming or volunteer opportunities, please visit www.sochicago.org.