Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 172 countries. Special Olympics competitions are held every day, all around the world—including local, national and regional competitions, adding up to more than 100,000 events a year. Like the International Paralympic Committee, the Special Olympics organization is recognized by the International Olympic Committee; however, unlike the Paralympic Games, Special Olympics World Games are not held in the same year nor in conjunction with the Olympic Games.
Eunice Mary Kennedy Shriver was an American philanthropist and a member of the Kennedy family. She was the founder of the Special Olympics, a sports organization for persons with physical and intellectual disabilities. For her efforts on behalf of disabled people, Shriver was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984.
Robert Sargent Shriver Jr. was an American diplomat, politician, and activist. As the husband of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, he was part of the Kennedy family. Shriver was the driving force behind the creation of the Peace Corps, and founded the Job Corps, Head Start, VISTA, Upward Bound, and other programs as the architect of the 1960s War on Poverty. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for vice president in the 1972 presidential election.
Maria Owings Shriver is an American journalist, author, a member of the Kennedy family, former First Lady of California, and the founder of the nonprofit organization The Women's Alzheimer's Movement. She was married to former governor of California and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, from whom she filed for divorce in 2011 and which was finalized in 2021.
Timothy Perry Shriver is an American disability rights activist, film producer, and former educator who has been Chairman of Special Olympics since 1996 and is the founder of UNITE. He is a member of the Kennedy family as the third child of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and Sargent Shriver, who helped found the Peace Corps.
An ESPY Award is an accolade currently presented by the American broadcast television network ABC except 2020, and previously ESPN, to recognize individual and team athletic achievement and other sports-related performance during the calendar year preceding a given annual ceremony. The first ESPYs were awarded in 1993. Because of the ceremony's rescheduling prior to the 2002 iteration thereof, awards presented in 2002 were for achievement and performances during the seventeen-plus previous months. As the similarly styled Grammy, Emmy, Academy Award, and Tony, the ESPYs are hosted by a contemporary celebrity; the style, though, is lighter, more relaxed and self-referential than many other awards shows, with comedic sketches usually included.
The 1968 Special Olympics World Summer Games were held in Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois, United States, on July 20, 1968. Some of the smaller indoor events were held in the Conrad Hilton Hotel on Michigan Avenue. The event was co-sponsored by the Chicago Park District and the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation.
Anne Marie Burke is an American jurist who served on the Illinois Supreme Court from 2006 until 2022. She served a term as the chief justice from 2019 until 2022. Burke had previously been appointed to the Illinois Appellate Court in 1995 and was elected to that seat in 1996. Burke was a founder of the Special Olympics in 1968. She is married to Chicago Alderman Edward M. Burke from the 14th Ward.
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver Stadium is a stadium in Brockport, New York. Located on the campus of State University of New York College at Brockport it is primarily used by the Brockport Golden Eagles. The stadium holds 11,000 people and was built in 1979. It was originally built for the 1979 Special Olympics World Summer Games that were held in Brockport. Brockport's American football, field hockey, men's and women's soccer, lacrosse and outdoor track and field teams host their home games at Eunice Kennedy Shriver Stadium. The Rochester River Dogz FC soccer club played here in 2016.
The Arthur Ashe Courage Award is presented as part of the ESPY Awards. It is named for the American tennis player Arthur Ashe. Although it is a sport-oriented award, it is not limited to sports-related people or actions, as it is presented annually to individuals whose contributions "transcend sports". According to ESPN, the organization responsible for giving out the award, "recipients reflect the spirit of Arthur Ashe, possessing strength in the face of adversity, courage in the face of peril and the willingness to stand up for their beliefs no matter what the cost". The award was presented as part of the ESPY Awards ceremony at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles from 2008 to 2019. The 2020 ESPYs ceremony was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Ashe Award being one of the few awards presented, and the 2021 ceremony was held in New York City.
Special Olympics Canada is a national organization founded in 1969 to help people with intellectual disabilities develop self-confidence and social skills through sports training and competition.
The 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games were held in Shanghai, China.
David Lenz is an American portrait painter.
Amy Palmiero-Winters is a below-knee amputee who currently holds eleven world records in various events. In 2010, she was awarded the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States and the ESPN ESPY Award as the top female athlete with a disability in the world.
Martin E. Sullivan was a museum director, and served as Director of the United States National Portrait Gallery, administered by the Smithsonian Institution, from 2008–12.
Courtney Lynn Thompson is an American former professional volleyball player who played as a setter for the United States women's national volleyball team. She won the 2005 national championship while playing for the University of Washington, and she set an NCAA record in career assists per game. Thompson won gold with the national team at the 2014 World Championship, silver at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, and bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
The Brockport Golden Eagles football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the State University of New York at Brockport located in the U.S. state of New York. The team competes in the NCAA Division III and are members of the Empire 8. The team plays its home games at the 10,000 seat Eunice Kennedy Shriver Stadium in Brockport, New York. The Golden Eagles are coached by Jason Mangone. Brockport participates yearly in the Courage Bowl.
Jean Ann Kennedy Smith was an Irish-American diplomat, activist, humanitarian, and author who served as United States Ambassador to Ireland from 1993 to 1998. She was a member of the Kennedy family, the eighth of nine children, and youngest daughter, born to Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald. Her siblings included President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Rosemary Kennedy, and Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver. She was also a sister-in-law of Jacqueline Kennedy.
The Courage Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game that has been played every year starting in 2005.
The 2017 ESPY Awards were presented at the 25th annual ESPY Awards show, held on July 12, 2017 at 5 pm Pacific at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California and on television nationwide in the United States on ABC at 8 pm Eastern/7 PM Central. On May 16, 2017, it was announced by ESPN.com that Peyton Manning would host the show. 33 competitive awards were presented, along with several honorary awards.
