Host city | Berlin, Germany |
---|---|
Motto | #UnbeatableTogether (German: #ZusammenUnschlagbar) |
Nations | 178 |
Athletes | 6,500 |
Events | 26 Sports |
Opening | 17 June |
Closing | 25 June |
Opened by | Frank-Walter Steinmeier |
Torch lighter | Sophie Rensmann |
Main venue | Olympiapark Berlin |
Website | Official website |
Summer | |
Winter | |
The 2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games, officially known as the XVI Special Olympic World Games or Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023 (German : Special Olympics Weltspiele 2023), was the 16th summer Special Olympics. Held in Berlin, Germany, the Special Olympics lasted nine days, from 17 to 25 June 2023. [1] It marked the first time that Germany has hosted the Special Olympics World Games. [2] About 6,500 athletes and unified partners from approximately 178 countries competed in 26 sports, supported by 3,000 coaches and 18,000 volunteers. [3]
The bid process was opened in November 2017. [4] Berlin, Germany was selected as the host city on 13 November 2018 at the Global Athlete Congress in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. [5] On 30 January 2020, Berlin was officially confirmed as the host city for the games. [6]
Events took place in fifteen venues: [7]
The opening ceremony was held at the Olympiastadion on 17 June 2023. President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier opened the games officially. Special Olympics chairman Timothy Shriver, German chancellor Olaf Scholz, Mayor of Berlin Kai Wegner, and former Olympic athletes Dirk Nowitzki and Felix Neureuther also took part in the ceremony. The torch was lit by Special Olympic tennis player Sophie Rensmann. Blue Man Group took part in a couple musical performances during the ceremony.
The closing ceremony was held on Straße des 17. Juni in front of the Brandenburg Gate on 25 June 2023.
Competitions were held in the following 26 sports: [8]
2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games |
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Basketball 3x3 made its debut at the Special Olympics and Field Hockey was featured as a demonstration sport.
The top three finishers of each competition were honored with gold, silver and bronze medals, while the fourth to eighth place finishers received ribbons with their placement printed on them. More than 4000 medals and 6600 placement ribbons were presented at 1,334 award ceremonies. [9]
Unlike the Olympic and Paralympic Games the Special Olympics do not provide an official medal table, since there is supposed to be no competitive pressure among the nations. Apart from the medals and placement ribbons, participants who were disqualified or did not finish their competition were also awarded with participation ribbons in order to promote sportsmanship. [10] [11] [12]
* Host nation (Germany)
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Germany* | 79 | 72 | 96 | 247 |
2 | China | 56 | 36 | 27 | 119 |
3 | Great Britain | 49 | 36 | 18 | 103 |
4 | Canada | 46 | 20 | 29 | 95 |
5 | India | 41 | 46 | 25 | 112 |
6 | Hong Kong | 39 | 25 | 12 | 76 |
7 | Belgium | 34 | 29 | 17 | 80 |
8 | United States | 32 | 45 | 33 | 110 |
9 | Hungary | 30 | 26 | 16 | 72 |
10 | Bangladesh | 25 | 4 | 5 | 34 |
11 | Greece | 24 | 15 | 24 | 63 |
12 | Italy | 23 | 29 | 24 | 76 |
13 | Costa Rica | 23 | 28 | 37 | 88 |
14 | Switzerland | 23 | 22 | 10 | 55 |
15 | South Korea | 23 | 21 | 16 | 60 |
16 | Finland | 23 | 18 | 13 | 54 |
17 | Ireland | 22 | 19 | 30 | 71 |
18 | Lithuania | 22 | 11 | 4 | 37 |
19 | United Arab Emirates | 19 | 21 | 26 | 66 |
20 | Romania | 18 | 18 | 7 | 43 |
21 | Puerto Rico | 18 | 17 | 12 | 47 |
22 | Netherlands | 17 | 16 | 28 | 61 |
23 | Paraguay | 17 | 14 | 12 | 43 |
24 | Norway | 16 | 22 | 12 | 50 |
25 | Egypt | 16 | 13 | 22 | 51 |
26 | Chinese Taipei | 16 | 13 | 10 | 39 |
27 | Malta | 16 | 11 | 5 | 32 |
28 | Poland | 15 | 26 | 16 | 57 |
29 | Australia | 15 | 22 | 26 | 63 |
30 | Macau | 15 | 12 | 8 | 35 |
31 | Kenya | 15 | 4 | 6 | 25 |
32 | Iceland | 14 | 16 | 13 | 43 |
33 | Sweden | 14 | 7 | 12 | 33 |
34 | Austria | 13 | 16 | 16 | 45 |
35 | Mexico | 13 | 8 | 11 | 32 |
36 | Venezuela | 11 | 12 | 16 | 39 |
37 | Pakistan | 10 | 20 | 18 | 48 |
38 | Slovakia | 10 | 16 | 13 | 39 |
39 | Spain | 10 | 13 | 15 | 38 |
40 | Thailand | 10 | 11 | 5 | 26 |
41 | Kazakhstan | 10 | 10 | 14 | 34 |
42 | South Africa | 10 | 9 | 7 | 26 |
43 | Israel | 10 | 8 | 8 | 26 |
44 | Indonesia | 10 | 5 | 8 | 23 |
45 | Ivory Coast | 10 | 5 | 6 | 21 |
46 | Denmark | 9 | 19 | 15 | 43 |
47 | Estonia | 9 | 14 | 13 | 36 |
48 | Japan | 9 | 7 | 10 | 26 |
49 | Jamaica | 9 | 5 | 4 | 18 |
50 | Cyprus | 8 | 14 | 9 | 31 |
51 | Czech Republic | 8 | 12 | 6 | 26 |
52 | Portugal | 8 | 11 | 8 | 27 |
53 | Saudi Arabia | 8 | 6 | 10 | 24 |
54 | Monaco | 8 | 6 | 5 | 19 |
55 | Dominican Republic | 8 | 4 | 2 | 14 |
56 | El Salvador | 7 | 15 | 9 | 31 |
57 | Ecuador | 7 | 11 | 11 | 29 |
58 | Kuwait | 7 | 9 | 4 | 20 |
59 | Syria | 7 | 8 | 10 | 25 |
60 | Brazil | 7 | 8 | 9 | 24 |
61 | Libya | 7 | 6 | 9 | 22 |
62 | Serbia | 7 | 6 | 6 | 19 |
63 | Panama | 7 | 4 | 8 | 19 |
64 | Jordan | 7 | 3 | 10 | 20 |
65 | Palestine | 7 | 2 | 2 | 11 |
66 | Oman | 6 | 9 | 14 | 29 |
67 | Slovenia | 6 | 8 | 4 | 18 |
68 | Bulgaria | 6 | 5 | 9 | 20 |
69 | Bolivia | 6 | 5 | 6 | 17 |
70 | Azerbaijan | 6 | 4 | 13 | 23 |
71 | Chile | 6 | 4 | 4 | 14 |
72 | Bahrain | 6 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
Malawi | 6 | 2 | 3 | 11 | |
74 | Singapore | 6 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
75 | New Zealand | 5 | 17 | 12 | 34 |
76 | Uzbekistan | 5 | 13 | 14 | 32 |
77 | Guatemala | 5 | 10 | 7 | 22 |
78 | France | 5 | 9 | 11 | 25 |
79 | Ukraine | 5 | 9 | 7 | 21 |
80 | Colombia | 5 | 9 | 6 | 20 |
81 | Trinidad and Tobago | 5 | 7 | 8 | 20 |
82 | Gibraltar | 5 | 7 | 4 | 16 |
83 | Luxembourg | 5 | 5 | 7 | 17 |
84 | Faroe Islands | 5 | 5 | 5 | 15 |
85 | Honduras | 5 | 3 | 6 | 14 |
86 | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 5 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
87 | Burkina Faso | 4 | 6 | 5 | 15 |
88 | Malaysia | 4 | 5 | 9 | 18 |
89 | Morocco | 4 | 5 | 3 | 12 |
90 | Isle of Man | 4 | 4 | 10 | 18 |
91 | Iraq | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 |
92 | Latvia | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
93 | Nauru | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
94 | Philippines | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
95 | Uruguay | 3 | 12 | 9 | 24 |
96 | Fiji | 3 | 6 | 6 | 15 |
97 | San Marino | 3 | 6 | 3 | 12 |
98 | Peru | 3 | 6 | 2 | 11 |
99 | Argentina | 3 | 5 | 2 | 10 |
100 | Tunisia | 3 | 5 | 1 | 9 |
101 | Senegal | 3 | 4 | 5 | 12 |
102 | Andorra | 3 | 3 | 5 | 11 |
103 | Cuba | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
104 | Benin | 3 | 2 | 7 | 12 |
105 | Iran | 3 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
106 | Zambia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
107 | Georgia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
108 | Mongolia | 2 | 6 | 6 | 14 |
109 | Mauritius | 2 | 6 | 5 | 13 |
110 | Suriname | 2 | 5 | 13 | 20 |
111 | Turkmenistan | 2 | 5 | 4 | 11 |
112 | Botswana | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
113 | Cayman Islands | 2 | 3 | 8 | 13 |
114 | Lebanon | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 |
115 | Seychelles | 2 | 2 | 5 | 9 |
116 | Zimbabwe | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
117 | Liechtenstein | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
118 | Aruba | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
Curaçao | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
120 | Uganda | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
121 | Bermuda | 2 | 1 | 7 | 10 |
122 | East Timor | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
Turkey | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |
124 | Bhutan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
Bonaire | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
126 | Croatia | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
127 | Maldives | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
128 | Armenia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Tajikistan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
130 | Nicaragua | 1 | 4 | 2 | 7 |
131 | Guadeloupe | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 |
132 | Albania | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
Haiti | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | |
North Macedonia | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | |
135 | Guyana | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
Namibia | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
137 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
138 | Kosovo | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Rwanda | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
Vietnam | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
141 | Antigua and Barbuda | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
142 | Cameroon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Guinea | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
Mali | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
145 | Algeria | 0 | 9 | 10 | 19 |
146 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
147 | Dominica | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
148 | Bahamas | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
149 | Papua New Guinea | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
South Sudan | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
151 | Belize | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Qatar | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
153 | Ghana | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Togo | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
155 | Cambodia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Lesotho | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Montenegro | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Samoa | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
159 | DR Congo | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Laos | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
Moldova | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
Saint Lucia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
163 | Cape Verde | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Kyrgyzstan | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
Palau | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
166 | Eswatini | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Gambia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Madagascar | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Tanzania | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Totals (169 entries) | 1380 | 1363 | 1317 | 4060 |
OC | Opening ceremony | ● | Event competitions | 1 | Gold medal events | CC | Closing ceremony |
June 2023 | June | Events | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
17th Sat | 18th Sun | 19th Mon | 20th Tue | 21st Wed | 22nd Thu | 23rd Fri | 24th Sat | 25th Sun | |||
Ceremonies | OC | CC | — | ||||||||
Aquatics | Marathon swimming | ● | 5 | 5 | |||||||
Swimming | ● | ● | 14 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 44 | |||
Athletics | ● | 12 | 34 | 19 | 15 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 97 | ||
Badminton | ● | ● | ● | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 10 | |||
Basketball | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 4 | 4 | |||
Boccia | ● | ● | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||||
Bowling | ● | ● | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 | |||
Cycling | ● | ● | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 13 | ||
Equestrian | ● | 9 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 20 | |||
Field hockey | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 1 | 1 | |||
Football | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 2 | 2 | 4 | |||
Futsal | ● | ● | ● | ● | 3 | 3 | |||||
Golf | ● | ● | ● | 5 | 5 | ||||||
Artistic gymnastics | ● | 48 | 48 | ||||||||
Rhythmic gymnastics | ● | 21 | 44 | 53 | 12 | 130 | |||||
Handball | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 2 | 2 | |||
Judo | ● | ● | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 | |||||
Kayaking | ● | 4 | ● | 5 | 9 | ||||||
Powerlifting | 18 | 21 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 79 | ||||
Roller skating | ● | ● | 11 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 17 | ||||
Sailing | ● | ● | ● | ● | 3 | 3 | |||||
Table tennis | ● | ● | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||||
Tennis | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 8 | 6 | 14 | |||
Beach volleyball | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 2 | 2 | |||
Volleyball | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 2 | 2 | |||
Daily medal events | 21 | 79 | 156 | 64 | 58 | 58 | 113 | 4 | 553 | ||
Cumulative total | 21 | 100 | 256 | 320 | 378 | 436 | 549 | 553 | 553 | ||
June 2023 | 17th Sat | 18th Sun | 19th Mon | 20th Tue | 21st Wed | 22nd Thu | 23rd Fri | 24th Sat | 25th Sun | Total events | |
June |
Below is a list of all 178 participating delegations. The number of competitors per delegation is indicated in parentheses.
The logo and slogan were unveiled on December 14, 2021, at the Sky Deutschland studio. The emblem, which brings together solid colors and images of Berlin, was designed with the help of Special Olympics athletes. During a workshop, they shared their thoughts and feelings about the Games and inclusion. The list of feelings participants chose to be incorporated in the logo, which are represented by shapes and the five main logo colors, are joy, togetherness, excitement, pride and passion. Additionally, iconic symbols of Berlin are used to welcome athletes and visitors to the city. The Berlin Bear, in green, can be found on the city's coat of arms. Logo designers also felt it was important to honor Berlin's ability to overcome a past of separation and isolation after the city was divided at the end of World War II. The Brandenburg Gate, in red, and Fernsehturm Tower, in fuchsia, celebrate a unified city and Berlin as the capital of one Germany. Overall, the logo was created to evoke a sense of unity, diversity, playfulness and connection. The slogan #UnbeatableTogether or in German #ZusammenUnschlagbar represents Togetherness and overcoming borders collectively are main elements of the logo. [24]
Potsdamer Platz is a public square and traffic intersection in the center of Berlin, Germany, lying about 1 km (1,100 yd) south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag, and close to the southeast corner of the Tiergarten park. It is named after the city of Potsdam, some 25 km (16 mi) to the south west, and marks the point where the old road from Potsdam passed through the city wall of Berlin at the Potsdam Gate. Initially, the open area near the city gate was used for military drills and parades. In the 19th into the 20th century, it developed from an intersection of suburban thoroughfares into the most bustling traffic intersection in Europe. The area was totally destroyed during World War II and then left desolate during the Cold War era when the Berlin Wall bisected its location. Since German reunification, Potsdamer Platz has been the site of major redevelopment projects.
The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad and commonly known as Munich 1972, was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972.
The Brandenburg Gate is an 18th-century neoclassical monument in Berlin. One of the best-known landmarks of Germany, it was erected on the site of a former city gate that marked the start of the road from Berlin to Brandenburg an der Havel, the former capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg. The current structure was built from 1788 to 1791 by orders of King Frederick William II of Prussia, based on designs by the royal architect Carl Gotthard Langhans. The bronze sculpture of the quadriga crowning the gate is a work by the sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow.
The Straße des 17. Juni, is a street in central Berlin, the capital of Germany. Its name refers to the 17 June 1953 uprising in East Germany. It is the western continuation of the boulevard Unter den Linden. It runs east–west through the Tiergarten, a large park to the west of the city centre. At the eastern end of the street is the Brandenburg Gate and the Platz des 18. März, it then passes the Soviet War Memorial before passing either side of Victory Column (Siegessäule) in the middle of the park, and out of the park through the Charlottenburg Gate, terminating about half a kilometre later at Ernst-Reuter-Platz. The street is a section of the main western thoroughfare radiating out from the centre of Berlin so the road continues to the west of Ernst-Reuter-Platz, the first section of which is called Bismarckstraße.
Unter den Linden is a boulevard in the central Mitte district of Berlin, Germany. Running from the Spree River to the Brandenburg Gate, it is named after the linden trees that line the grassed pedestrian mall on the median and the two broad carriageways. The avenue links numerous Berlin sights, landmarks and rivers for sightseeing.
The Olympiastadion is a sports stadium at Olympiapark Berlin in Berlin, Germany. It was originally built by Werner March for the 1936 Summer Olympics. During the Olympics, the record attendance was thought to be over 100,000. Today the stadium is part of the Olympiapark Berlin.
Olympiastadion is a stadium located in Munich, Germany. Situated at the heart of the Olympiapark München in northern Munich, the stadium was built as the main venue for the 1972 Summer Olympics.
The Olympiapark in Munich, Germany, is an Olympic Park which was constructed for the 1972 Summer Olympics. Located in the Oberwiesenfeld neighborhood of Munich, the Park continues to serve as a venue for cultural, social, and religious events, such as events of worship. It includes a contemporary carillon. The Park is administered by Olympiapark München GmbH, a holding company fully owned by the state capital of Munich. The Olympic Park Munich was also considered to be an architectural marvel during the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany.
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Ebertstraße is a street in Berlin, the capital of Germany. It runs on a roughly north-south line from the Brandenburg Gate to Potsdamer Platz in the centre of the city.
Westend is a locality of the Berlin borough Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in Germany. It emerged in the course of Berlin's 2001 administrative reform on the grounds of the former Charlottenburg borough. Originally a mansion colony, it is today a quite densely settled, still affluent territory adjacent to Berlin's inner city in the east.
For the 1972 Summer Olympics, a total of thirty-two sports venues were used. A majority of the venues used were new construction in time for the 1972 Games after Munich was awarded the Games in 1966. Kiel Bay was the only venue from the 1936 Summer Olympics to be used for the 1972 Games. A stretch of the Autobahn near Munich was used for cycling's road team time trial event. After the Olympics, Olympiastadion hosted the final of the FIFA World Cup less than two years later. Augsburg's Eiskanal has served as host to three Canoe Slalom World Championships while the shooting range hosted the World Shooting Championships 2010. Olympiapark was part of Munich's bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
The Munich Marathon is an annual marathon road running event hosted by the city of Munich, Germany, usually in October, since 1983. The event features a full marathon as well as a half marathon and 10K run. The marathon is categorized as a Gold Label Road Race by World Athletics.
Berlin's history has left the city with an eclectic assortment of architecture. The city's appearance in the 21st century has been shaped by the key role the city played in Germany's 20th-century history. Each of the governments based in Berlin—the Kingdom of Prussia, the 1871 German Empire, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, East Germany and the reunified Federal Republic of Germany—initiated ambitious construction programs, with each adding its distinct flavour to the city's architecture.
Olympiapark Berlin, previously the Deutsches Sportforum and the Reichssportfeld, is a sports and entertainment complex located in Berlin, Germany. The complex served as the Olympic Park of the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Am Riesenfeld is the westernmost of the three subdistricts of the Munich city district 11 Milbertshofen-Am Hart.
The Platz des 18. März is a public square in Berlin-Mitte located immediately west of the Brandenburg Gate, opposite Pariser Platz, at the junction of Ebertstraße and Straße des 17. Juni.
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