Scorching National Special Olympics Summer Games

The exceptional heatwave presented the organizing team of the recently concluded 9th National Special Olympics Summer Games with challenges such as the association had never experienced before. Nevertheless, joy prevailed in the end: The record-breaking Games lived up to their motto "Together boundless" in every respect.

These were indeed special Games. The persistent heatwave characterized the entire event weekend and necessitated short-term adjustments to the sports program. While all indoor competitions could be held as planned and at a high organizational level, individual outdoor competitions had to be cancelled for the time being due to safety reasons.

Thanks to the extraordinary commitment of all involved, attractive replacement competitions were quickly organized and medals awarded in the sports of golf, football, and tennis.

Thus, the tennis competitions took place in a hall thanks to a spontaneous cooperation with Tennis Point Vienna, while the football competitions were held at the Austria Wien Akademie with the support of Special Olympics Ambassador Alexander Grünwald and Academy Director Manuel Takacs.

In the Europahalle, golf competitions were held on the simulator, and the Austrian Golf Association also opened its Performance Center for the Special Olympics athletes. Ultimately, over 250 medal decisions were made in 17 sports over the past four days, resulting in hundreds of medals and many beaming faces.

Only the track and field athletes and cyclists could not prove themselves in Vienna and had to leave without competing. Instead, they were celebrated exceptionally at the closing ceremony and marched in together to the cheers of the audience.

Particular Challenges
"These Games challenged our entire organizing team, our volunteers, and our partners in a way we have never experienced before. Today, we can nevertheless proudly say: We mastered almost everything. Of course, we will now intensively analyze the past few days to be even better prepared for similar situations in the future. The effects of extreme heat will play an even more important role in our event planning in the future, as our athletes are particularly sensitive to these conditions," says Head of the Organizing Committee Birgit Morelli.