Welcome to Special Olympics! Special Olympics is a global organization that uses sports as a catalyst to change society’s perceptions and treatment of people with intellectual disabilities. This world-changing mission has been at the heart of Special Olympics since the First International Summer Games in July 1968. There, through the vision of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, athletes with intellectual disabilities commanded the spotlight at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. For the first time, the world witnessed the dedication, dignity and worth of a people who had long been invisible. The world has never been the same since.