Over 2,400 people who have a mental disability participate in British Columbia Special Olympics each year. The perception, at times, is that the intellectual functioning level of some of the athletes is similar to people under 18, even though chronologically the person is much older. Thus, they are thought of as kids. We must continually remind people not to focus on the disability but rather the ability. Please refer to the participants of Special Olympic programs as athletes, not kids.
Events are the culmination of programs.
As any athlete must train in their sport to compete, so must Special Olympics. An athlete attending World Games will have trained for years to get there. Events are the motivators, measurements of progress, and culmination of the weekly, year-round training that takes place. Special Olympics' mandate is to serve individuals who have a mental handicap . The individual may have a physical handicap in addition to the mental handicap and still participate in Special Olympics.