Student
...the year 2008, minorities have been excluded in certain professional sports. The common misconception that most people hold is that they think of a minority as someone of a different race or color. In truth, women as well as physically and mentally disabled people are all included in this category. Everyone should be included in sports, and that seems to be where society is going today.
The Special Olympics was founded by Dr. Frank Hayden in the early sixties. Hayden’s research led him to believe that intellectually disabled people were only half as physically fit as their non-disabled peers. He believed it was wrong to exclude them from physical activity. In the early 1960s, he teamed up with Eunice Kennedy Shriver who founded Camp Shriver, a mentally disabled program which “Promoted the concept of involvement in physical activity and competition opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities” , and in 1968 the first Special Olympic competition was held in Chicago. Since then, 38 more Special Olympics have been held all over North America. To be eligible to join the Special Olympics, “An individual with an intellectual disability must agree to observe and abide by the Special Olympics Sports Rules.” Year round training to athletes willing to participate is offered, and events are created so that participants with similar capabilities can compete with each other. Approximately, “Over two million athletes of all ages are involved in Special Olympics sports programs in more than 150 countries” However, there are problems that have arisen throughout the past years, where athletes participating in special needs sport pretend to have a mental disability in order to win gold medals. During the millennium year’s Paralympics, Spain received a gold medal in basketball. However, 9 of the teammates participating were later found to have no physical or mental...
View Full Essay
