Special Olympics Summer Games

By Metro Creative

The first International Special Olympics Summer Games were held at Soldier Field in Chicago on July 20, 1968. The games were the brainchild of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who first proposed the idea of nationwide sports contests for young people with intellectual disabilities in November of 1966.

Kennedy Shriver had spent years advocating for young people with intellectual disabilities, even opening a summer camp for such youngsters at her home in suburban Washington, D.C. in June of 1962.

More than 200 events were offered at the first Special Olympics, including water polo, the 100-yard swim, the 50-yard dash, the broad jump and the high jump.

— Metro Creative