The Ninth Special Olympics World Summer Games

Special Olympics World Games

The Special Olympics World Games are an international sporting competition for athletes with intellectual disabilities, organized by Special Olympics....

 were held in New Haven, Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

, USA on July 1-9 1995. More than 7,000 athletes from 143 countries gathered for competition in 21 sports. The opening and closing ceremonies were held in the Yale Bowl

Yale Bowl

The Yale Bowl is a football stadium in New Haven, Connecticut on the border of West Haven, about 1½ miles west of Yale's main campus. Completed in 1914, the stadium seats 61,446, reduced by renovations from the original capacity of 70,869...

, and various events were held around the New Haven area, including various events held in West Haven

West Haven

- Places :Australia:* West Haven, New South WalesNew Zealand:* Westhaven suburb, in Auckland* Westhaven Marina, in the suburb of the same name, in AucklandUnited States:* Westhaven, California * West Haven, Connecticut* West Haven, Oregon...

, Connecticut. This was the first Special olympics world games that included unified sports.
The hurdles and the marathon

Marathon

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...

 were included in athletics, squat

Squat (exercise)

In strength training, the squat is a compound, full body exercise that trains primarily the muscles of the thighs, hips and buttocks, quads , hamstrings, as well as strengthening the bones, ligaments and insertion of the tendons throughout the lower body...

 lift was included in powerlifting

Powerlifting

Powerlifting is a strength sport. It resembles the sport of Olympic weightlifting, as both disciplines involve lifting weights in three attempts. Powerlifting evolved from a sport known as 'odd lifts' which followed the same three attempt format but used a wide variety of events akin to Strongman...

, and the 40 km race was included in cycling

Cycling

Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...

.

Here are some notable athetes of these games:

• Troy Rutter - won the first-ever marathon in 2:59.18.
• Kamala Gesteland - won 3 gold medals and 2 bronze medals in swimming.
• Holly Mandy - won the mile run and the 3 km run, also won silver medal in the half-marathon. (She also won a silver medal in the 5 km run at the 1991 world games.)
• Loretta Claiborne
  Loretta Claiborne
  Loretta Claiborne is an American global speaker who competes in the Special Olympics. She has been honored with the 1996 Arthur Ashe ESPY Courage Award presented to her by Denzel Washington...
  
   - won 2 gold medals in bowling events.
• Conrad DuPreez - won 2 gold medals in cycling.
• Chad Kocabinski - won a gold and a bronze medals in horse riding events.
• Robert Vasquez - won 1 gold, 4 silver, and 1 bronze medals in gymnastics.
• Gabriel Salas - won gold and bronze medals in speed roller skating.
• Cynthia Bentley - won a silver medal in tennis.
• Jennifer R Delaney- won two gold and one silver medal in Equestrian

Sports

• Aquatics
• Athletics
• Badminton
  Badminton
  Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
  
  
• Basketball
  Basketball
  Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
  
  
• Bocce
  Bocce
  Bocce is a ball sport belonging to the boules sport family, closely related to bowls and pétanque with a common ancestry from ancient games played in the Roman Empire...
  
  
• Bowling
  Bowling
  Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
  
  
• Cycling
  Cycling
  Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
  
  
• Equestrian
  Equestrianism
  Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
  
  
• Football (Soccer)
  Football (soccer)
  Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
  
  
• Golf
  Golf
  Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
  
  
• Gymnastics
  Gymnastics
  Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
  
  
• Powerlifting
  Powerlifting
  Powerlifting is a strength sport. It resembles the sport of Olympic weightlifting, as both disciplines involve lifting weights in three attempts. Powerlifting evolved from a sport known as 'odd lifts' which followed the same three attempt format but used a wide variety of events akin to Strongman...
  
  
• Roller Skating
  Roller skating
  Roller skating is the traveling on smooth surfaces with roller skates. It is a form of recreation as well as a sport, and can also be a form of transportation. Skates generally come in two basic varieties: quad roller skates and inline skates or blades, though some have experimented with a...
  
  
• Sailing
  Sailing
  Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...
  
  
• Softball
  Softball
  Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
  
  
• Table Tennis
  Table tennis
  Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
  
  
• Tennis
  Tennis
  Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
  
  
• Volleyball
  Volleyball
  Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...