| 15th Special Olympics World Summer Games الألعاب الصيفية العالمية الخامسة عشرة للأولمبياد الخاص | |
| Host City: | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates |
| Motto: | Meet the Determined (Arabic: تلبية العزم) |
| Nations: | 195 |
| Athletes: | 7,500 |
| Events: | 22 Sports |
| Opening: | March 14 |
| Closing: | March 21 |
| Opened By: | Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan |
| Website: | Official website |
| Stadium: | Zayed Sports City Stadium |
| Spreviouss: | 2015 Los Angeles |
| Snexts: | 2023 Berlin |
| Sprevious: | 2017 Austria |
| Snext: | 2022 Kazan |
The 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games (Arabic: 2019 الألعاب الأولمبية الصيفية الخاصة بألعاب العالم الصيفية,) were a special olympics multi-sport event for athletes with intellectual disabilities in the tradition of the Special Olympics movement. It was held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates from March 14–21, 2019.[1] ESPN offered international coverage of the games.[2]
The 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games was the first Special Olympics games to take place in the Middle East, were also the first to be held in winter/autumn in the host city and the largest sports and humanitarian event recorded, featuring 200 National Programs, more than 7,000 athletes and 20,000 registered volunteers.[3] Since 2017 and following its national policy, the United Arab Emirates coined the term "determination" instead of "disability", referring to disabled people as "People of Determination".
Three finalists were chosen from the countries which had submitted bids to host the games: Australia, Germany (which was chosen latter to host the 2023 Games), and South Africa.[4] However, all three countries had withdrawn their bids by April 2015.
In November 2016, it was announced that the Emirate of Abu Dhabi would host the 2019 Summer Games. This was the first time that the Special Olympics were to be held in the Middle East / North Africa Region. Due to the region's extreme climate, the games were held during the local late winter/early spring season for the first time, from March 14–21, 2019.[5]
It was held at Zayed Sports City Stadium which also held the FIFA Club World Cup in 2017 and 2018 and the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.The headliners of the ceremonies included Avril Lavigne, Hussain Al Jassmi, Assala Nasri, Tamer Hosny, Paul Oakenfold, Sumi Jo, Now United, and Luis Fonsi.
The closing ceremony took place on 21 March 2019 at the Zayed Sports City Stadium where the Special Olympics flag was handed over from Abu Dhabi to Jämtland County, Sweden as the hosts of the 2021 Special Olympics World Winter Games. The headliners of the ceremonies were Nicole Scherzinger, Keala Settle, Now United, Hamad Al Ameri, Rashed Al Majed and Waleed Al Shami. Before the ceremonies the music video of the game's theme song "Right Where I'm Supposed To Be" by Ryan Tedder, Avril Lavigne, Luis Fonsi, Hussain Al Jassmi, Assala Nasri and Tamer Hosny was premiered.
Events were held at nine venues across two emirates:[6]
The following competitions took place:[7]
Below is a list of all 195 participating delegations. The number of competitors per delegation is indicated in parentheses.
The logo was unveiled on March 25, 2017, during the handover at the closing ceremony of the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Graz, Austria. The logo was projected on the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The logo was inspired by palm fronds woven together in an eastern Arabian cultural technique known in Gulf Arabic as (Arabic: خوص), with the Special Olympics symbol in a red circle in the middle.[11]
Source:[12]