The 2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Berlin officially kicked off with an incredible opening ceremony in the Olympic Stadium where the Egyptian delegation dazzled the spectators.
The tournament is slated for 17-25 June.
Special Olympics is the world’s largest sports organisation for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and activities for five million participants and Unified Sports partners in 172 countries.
The 109 members of the Egyptian delegation, 69 of whom are athletes, were dressed in the colours of the flag. The front line athletes wore lovely Egyptian Pharaonic attire that attracted attention so much that they were stopped repeatedly during the parade by fans wanting to take pictures with them.
The country will compete in 15 sports: futsal, basketball, table tennis, tennis, swimming, badminton, gymnastics, judo, equestrian, weightlifting, bocci, bowling, athletics, cycling and floor hockey.
The Olympic Stadium, with 50,000 people, sang the games song “Are you ready?” in a unique festival of encounters, joy and inclusion at the grand opening ceremony.
The parade of delegations, accompanied by the gripping music of the inclusive DJ collective “No Shade!” created exuberant moments and overflowing emotions.
Among notable personalities was Timothy Shriver, chairman of Special Olympics International.
Under the motto #Unbeatable Together, the Blue Man Group Berlin was followed by the emotional hoisting of the Special Olympics flag and the taking of the Special Olympics oath. Then, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the words everybody was waiting for: “I hereby officially declare the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023 open.”
The Egyptian athletes lost no time, collecting their first medal on the first day of the competition as Diana Shaaban won the gold medal in the ball and two bronze medals in the ribbon and hoop.
On the second day, Rahma Khaled took the gold in the hoop, silver in the ribbon and bronze in the rope.
“I am very proud of my medals and my performance and I thank all my coaches and my parents as well as they have helped me a lot,” Shaaban said. “I also thank Special Olympics for giving me this chance to participate in the Berlin 2023 World Summer Games.”
In its first leg match, Egypt beat Spain 5-3 in hockey. Egypt fell, according to the seedings, in a group that included Belgium and Germany.
Minister of Youth and Sports Ashraf Sobhi represented Egypt in the Inclusive Global Development roundtable event and the launch of the Global Leadership Coalition for Inclusion among senior government, philanthropic and community leaders.
“We have formalised a collective commitment to the expansion of inclusive education and sports programming for students and youth of all abilities,” Sobhi said. “Coalition members will collaborate to strengthen education and social welfare systems, as well as improve information sharing and the exchange of best practices among countries that are deepening their commitment to social inclusion.”
Ayman Abdel-Wahab, Special Olympics Middle East and North Africa region regional president and managing director, hailed the organisation of the Games as “great” and the “strong” participation of MENA with 20 programmes. “It is a great honour to have 20 programmes of the region participate in the Games. We had a number of obstacles after three years of lockdown [due to the coronavirus] during which our players suffered a lot.”
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.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 22 June, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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