Host city | Graz and Schladming, Austria |
---|---|
Motto | Heartbeat For The World (German: Herzschlag für die Welt) |
Nations | 113 |
Athletes | 2,277 (1,555 Male & 722 Female) |
Events | 27 events (9 sports) |
Opening | March 18 |
Closing | March 26 |
Opened by | Alexander Van der Bellen |
Summer | |
Winter | |
The 2017 Special Olympic World Winter Games (German : 2017 Special Olympics World Winterspiele) officially called 11th Special Olympics World Winter Games is a Special Olympics, a multi-sports event that was held in Austria from March 14 through March 25, 2017. [1]
It was announced in 2012 that the host city for the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games would be Graz and Schladming in Styria, Austria. [2]
The opening and closing ceremonies were broadcast in the United States on ABC and ESPN. Most events were played live or re-aired on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNNEWS throughout the games. [3]
With 113 nations participating all were invited to the Official Reception in Vienna after the teams arrived. At the Reception teams and nations could meet other athletes, take photos and talk to media from all over the world. This was the Special Olympics World Games first time that this event was held. The Reception took place on March 16, 2017, at the Vienna, Rathaus.
Most athletes arrived at Vienna International Airport on March 14, 2017, and were given Special Austria 2017 necklaces and gear for their stay.
The Austrian government denied the visas for teams from Ghana and Afghanistan, keeping them from competing. The grounds for denial conveyed to the Ghana team were that Austria believed that the athletes would not return to Ghana after the competition. Tim Shriver, chairman of the board of Special Olympics International, said: "On paper, six athletes of more than 2,500 did not attend the 2017 World Games. But for those six, it is a nightmare." [4]
The opening ceremony was on March 18, 2017. The games were officially opened by Alexander Van der Bellen. Jason Mraz and Grace VanderWaal, with a choir of children from Schladming and Special Olympics global messengers, performed "I Won't Give Up." Helene Fischer performed "Fighter". [5]
* Host nation
The following events took place at Austria 2017: [7]
OC | Opening ceremony | ● | Event competitions | 1 | Gold medals | EG | Exhibition gala | CC | Closing ceremony |
March | 18 Sat | 19 Sun | 20 Mon | 21 Tue | 22 Wed | 23 Thu | 24 Fri | 25 Sat | Gold medals |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ceremonies | OC | CC | |||||||
Alpine skiing | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ||
Cross-country skiing | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ||
Figure skating | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ||||
Floorball | ● | ● | |||||||
Floor hockey | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | |||
Short track speed skating | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | |||
Snowboarding | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | |||
Snowshoeing | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ||
March | 18 Sat | 19 Sun | 20 Mon | 21 Tue | 22 Wed | 23 Thu | 24 Fr | 25 Sat | Gold medals |
The 2017 World Games was broadcast on the following broadcasters in the following country: [8]
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