2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games

Last updated
12th Special Olympics World Winter Games
XII Giochi Mondiali Invernali Special Olympics
Host city Turin, Italy
MottoThe Future is Here (Italian: Il futuro è qui)
Nations101 (expected)
Athletes1,500 (expected) [1]
Events8 sports
Opening8 March 2025
Closing15 March 2025
Main venue Inalpi Arena (opening)
Via Lattea (closing)
Website www.turin2025.org
Summer
Winter

The 2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games, officially known as the XII Special Olympics World Winter Games. and commonly known as Turin 2025 (Italian : XII Giochi Mondiali Invernali Special Olympics), were an international multi-sport event. It was the 12th Special Olympics World Winter Games. [2] They took place in Turin, Piedmont, Italy from 8 to 15 March 2025. This marked the first time that Italy hosted the Special Olympics World Games. [3]

Contents

Host selection

The bid was presented in 2021 by the Government of Italy, the Piedmont Region, the City of Turin, the Italian National Olympic Committee, the Italian Paralympic Committee and Angelo Moratti  [ it ], president of Special Olympics Italy. [4] The original scheduled dates were between 29 January to 9 February 2025. According to the bidding, the ceremonies were planned to be held at Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino, which had been renovated for the 2006 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. It is expected that there would be around 3,125 athletes, 3,000 volunteers, and 100,000 spectators. [4]

On 16 July 2021, Turin was awarded the World Games by Special Olympics International. [5] [6] At the conclusion of the 2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Berlin, it was officially announced that the next Winter Games will take place in Turin from 8 to 16 March 2025. [7]

Representatives

Second lady of the USA Usha Vance led the United States presidential delegation to the games. [8]

The Games

Venues

The following venues were used: [9]

Turin

Mountains

Sports

The following eight sports were held: [3] [5] [10]

Calendar

All times and dates use Central European Time (UTC+01:00)
OCOpening ceremony●Event competitions1Gold medal eventsCCClosing ceremony
March 2025MarchEvents
8th
Sat		9th
Sun		10th
Mon		11th
Tue		12th
Wed		13th
Thu		14th
Fri		15th
Sat
Olympic Rings Icon.svg CeremoniesOCCC—
Alpine skiing pictogram.svg Alpine skiing ● 2732● 42101
Cross country skiing pictogram.svg Cross-country skiing ● ● 21303217100
DanceSport pictogram.svg Dancesport ● ● 12921
Figure skating pictogram.svg Figure skating 69520
Floorball pictogram.svg Floorball ● ● ● 11314
Short track speed skating pictogram.svg Short track speed skating ● ● 303060
Snowboarding pictogram.svg Snowboarding 1698336
Snowshoeing pictogram.svg Snowshoeing ● ● 463522103
Daily medal events166316712584455
Cumulative total1679246371455
March 20258th
Sat		9th
Sun		10th
Mon		11th
Tue		12th
Wed		13th
Thu		14th
Fri		15th
Sat		Total events
March

Medal table

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.

  *   Host nation (Italy)

Medals won by participating delegations
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
Totals (0 entries)0000
Source: [11]

Notable Achievements

Gerhard Kirnbauer (Austria), aged 66, made history as the oldest competitor at the Special Olympics World Winter Games Turin 2025, participating in snowshoeing events. Kirnbauer represented Special Olympics Austria in the 100m and 200m races. [12]

Marketing

The Mole Antenelliana in Turin is to become part of the World Games logo Mole Antonelliana in Turin.jpg
The Mole Antenelliana in Turin is to become part of the World Games logo

The application ran under the slogan The Future is Here. [13]

The following design was chosen for the logo: Turin's landmark, the Mole Antonelliana, and Alps that are stylized, combined with the shape of a snowflake and arranged in a circle around the Special Olympics logo. [13] [5]

References

  1. ↑ "2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games: The Allianz Stadium hosts the torch!". Yahoo Sports. 2025-03-05. Retrieved 2025-03-07.
  2. ↑ "Nomination open for Torino 2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games". Special Olympics Great Britain. 2023-12-12. Retrieved 2024-02-17.
  3. 1 2 Compresso AG. "World Winter Games - Special Olympics Switzerland". specialolympics.ch (in Swiss High German). Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  4. 1 2 "Turin bid to hold 2025 Winter Special Olympics in run-up to Milan-Cortina 2026". 2021-02-28. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  5. 1 2 3 Redazione Agenzia Nova (2021-07-16). "The 2025 Winter Special Olympics assigned to Turin". Agenzia Nova. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  6. ↑ Redazione Ideawebtv.it (2021-07-16). "A Torino e in Piemonte gli Special Olympics invernali 2025". www.ideawebtv.it - Quotidiano on line della provincia di Cuneo (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  7. ↑ "Special Olympics: Fabio Grosso drückt den Italienern die Daumen und denkt an Berlin 2006" (in German). 2023-06-24. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  8. ↑ Martin, Chantz (March 6, 2025). "Second lady Usha Vance will lead presidential delegation at Special Olympics World Winter Games, Trump says". Fox News . Retrieved March 6, 2025.
  9. ↑ Special Olympics World Winter Games Turin 2025. "Venues" . Retrieved 9 February 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ↑ "NEWS - Special Olympics Italia presenta la candidatura per i Giochi Mondiali Invernali - Torino 2025" . Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  11. ↑ "Competition Schedule – Special Olympics World Winter Games Turin 2025". results.specialolympics.org. Retrieved 2025-03-23.
  12. ↑ "Gerhard Kirnbauer - Special Olympics World & National Games Results". Special Olympics Results. Retrieved 2025-04-14.
  13. 1 2 "Assegnati a Torino gli Special Olympics invernali del 2025 - Consulta per le persone in difficoltà" (in Italian). 2021-07-21. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
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