More than 1,900 athletes from 80 countries are currently competing in the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Nagano. Abeer Anwar reports Special Olympics Middle East and North Africa (SO MENA) is taking part in the Special Olympics Winter Games in Nagano, Japan with the second biggest regional delegation. Coming in second after Europe, SO MENA is participating with 12 programmes in four sports with a total of 123 athletes. Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen are representing the MENA region in floor hockey, snowshoeing, speed skating and Alpine skiing. Egypt is taking part in snowshoeing with four intellectually disabled athletes. Ayman Abdel-Wahab, the SO MENA managing director, said that after the region's successful participation in the 2001 Winter Games in Alaska, "we decided to give a chance for more programmes to join in this big event so that the number of countries is triple that which participated in Alaska." Although it was the first participation in Alaska, Special Olympics Egypt collected two gold medals, one silver and one bronze in floor hockey and snowshoeing. The Winter Games, which began 26 February and end 5 March, marks the first time the showcase event is being held in Asia, and makes Nagano the first city to have hosted the Olympics, Paralympics and Special Olympics World Games. "Japan's world class facilities are the ideal venues from which to focus the world's attention on the heroics of Special Olympics athletes from every corner of the globe," said Timothy Shriver, chairman and CEO of Special Olympics. "The enthusiastic support of the Japanese people, government and sponsors created a once-in-a- lifetime opportunity for our athletes to compete at many of the same arenas as those Olympic greats in 1998." "The Games will be a flagship event of the Special Olympics movement in Japan and in Asia," said Kayoko Hosokawa, chairwoman of Special Olympics Nippon and the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games Organising Committee. "It certainly will create a legacy that will provide greater awareness of the Special Olympics movement in the region and more sports opportunities for athletes worldwide than ever before." In Nagano, athletes will compete in Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, figure skating, floor hockey, snowboarding and speed skating. Alongside the sports, Nagano offers a variety of educational and social events. The Healthy Athletes Programme is providing athletes a variety of free health assessments and services in a welcoming atmosphere at the Monzen Plaza and Special Olympics Town. Healthy Athletes provides health screenings to approximately 2,000 of the 2,500 athletes competing in the Games. The primary goal is to provide health assessments to the athletes and their families, providing services such as Special Smiles, Healthy Hearing and Opening Eyes. So MENA is taking part with six doctors in various fields of specialisation. In Nagano, 28 youngsters and 14 adult chaperones will participate in the 2005 Global Youth Summit over the course of the Games. Representing every region in the Special Olympics movement, participants consist of a pair of students -- one Special Olympics athlete and one typical peer -- from a middle/intermediate school or high/secondary school (ages 12-17). Bahrain and Morocco are representing the SO MENA region. Egyptian Dina Galal is representing the MENA region as the global messenger at the Athletes Leadership Programme. Participants in the youth summit focussed on four tasks: sharing their ideas with Special Olympics about ways to reverse stereotypical attitudes about people with disabilities; reporting on the athletes who are competing at the 2005 World Winter Games and transmitting these stories back to their schools and communities electronically; discussing ways that organisers of Special Olympics can meet the needs of today's athletes, volunteers, coaches and family members; and upon returning to their nations, expanding on the opportunities for youth to become more involved with Special Olympics in the school and community. One way the Winter Games organisers advocate increased awareness is through the Host Town Programme. More than 70 host towns throughout the Nagano prefecture and beyond welcomed Special Olympics delegations from 80 countries. For four days before the Games began, the programme provided an introduction to Japan for the athletes, and also helped the people of Japan learn more about people with intellectual disabilities and transform differences into shared experiences.
