Find your sport

Find the perfect Special Olympics Sport for you.

Do you like running or are you more of a walker? Do you like jumping over things or do you find lifting things more fun? Do you like having a team to bounce off or do you like focusing on testing your own limits? With the huge range of things to do, with Special Olympics you can find a sport that suits you.

The sports on offer can vary from club to club, so contact your local Special Olympics club to find out what you can get involved in.

Find your local club here.

Summer Sports

Athletics

A great thing about athletics is that it covers a wide range of events that focus on different skills. Moving fast or slow, throwing or jumping, athletics has events that cover these and more.

Athletics events include:

running events ranging from 25 metre sprints to 10,000 metre races

walking races from 25 metres to 1500 metres

wheelchair races (10 meters to 400 meters)

road races

hurdles

relay races

wheelchair relays

long jump

standing long jump

high jump

softball throw

tennis ball throw

shot put

wheelchair shot put

Mini-javelin

Basketball

Basketball is one of the most popular sports in the world. It can be fast-paced and involves a range of skills like dribbling, passing, shooting, and defending

In Special Olympics, you can play five-on-five on a full-court or three-on-three on a half-court. Unified basketball is also available (see the Unified Sports section at the bottom of this page for more info).

Bocce

Bocce is an Italian game that is kind of like bowls. The aim of the game is to roll your ball closest to the target ball, called a pallina.

Bocce is very popular among the Special Olympics community because it’s a game you can really enjoy regardless of your physical abilities or age. Whether you can move a few fingers or move your whole body, it’s a sport for you.

You can compete in singles, doubles, team, and unified bocce events (see the Unified Sports section at the bottom of this page for more info).

Bowling

Ten-pin bowling is another sport that is accessible to people of all ages and abilities. Bowling balls come in a variety of weights, so you can choose one that works best for you. If you’re unable to bowl a ball, you can still play by rolling your ball down a ramp.

You can play bowling as an individual, as part of a pair, or on a team.

Equestrian

If you enjoy large animals, equestrian could be the sport for you. Equestrian includes a variety of events that test your ability to control your horse.

Dressage – sometimes referred to as ‘horse ballet’, dressage is all about getting your horse to perform a series of precise and graceful movements.

Equitation– you guide the horse through a series of movements while being scored on your technique, e.g. posture, body position, and hand position. Equitation is more about the rider’s technique than the horse’s performance.

Working trails – you ride your horse over a series of obstacles like gates, bridges, and water crossings. You’re scored on your smoothness, safety, technique, and how well you control the horse.

If you're wondering if you need your own horse to participate in Special Olympics equestrian, you don't! For training, many Special Olympics clubs team up with riding schools (like Riding for the Disabled) or equestrian centres that provide horses. At events, the organisers will provide a horse that is a good match for you and your riding ability.

Golf

Golf is a game of skill and strategy. Every shot matters, so you have to think about what you’re going to do next and have the skills to make it happen.

Because you’re surrounded by nature, golf can be a great sport for unwinding and getting away from the hustle and bustle of life. You can even play on your own and just focus on beating your best score or hitting a great shot.

Special Olympics has nine and 18 hole golf competitions with Unified golf also available. (see the Unified Sports section at the bottom of this page for more info).

Football

Also known as soccer, football is the most popular sport in the world. That’s partly because the rules are simple and you don’t need much equipment to play – just a ball, some space, and a couple of goals.

Special Olympics has football events with the traditional 11 players on a team, as well as five and seven player formats.

While football has simple rules, there is plenty of strategy that goes into how your team attacks and defends. It’s also a great game for building teamwork and making friends.

Indoor bowls

Like in lawn bowls, the aim of indoor bowls is to roll your bowl closest to the little white ball (called the jack). Indoor bowls is played inside on a roll-out matt and uses smaller, lighter bowls.

Indoor bowls is a great game for people of all ages and abilities, and the fact that it’s inside means you can play all year round.

In Special Olympics, you can compete in singles, pairs, triples, and fours competitions.

Powerlifting

If you're keen to test your strength, powerlifting might be the sport for you. It’s an individual sport where the aim is to lift more weights than everyone else.

Special Olympics powerlifting events include:

Squat – you do a squat while holding the barbell across your shoulders/upper back.

Bench press – you lift the barbell while lying down on a bench.

Deadlift – you lift the barbell from the floor until you’re fully upright.

Combinations - bench press and deadlift or bench press, deadlift and squat.

Swimming

Special Olympics swimming includes all the usual strokes you see in big swimming competitions - freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, and butterfly. There are also walking, kickboard, flotation device, and assisted swimming races for athletes who are new to swimming or unable to swim on their own.

Table Tennis

Table tennis is a speedy sport that’s great for building your hand-eye coordination and reflexes.

You can compete as an individual or as part of a doubles team. Special Olympics also has table tennis competitions for wheelchair users.

Winter Sports

Alpine Skiing

Alpine skiing is all about zooming down a snowy mountain, swerving between gates along the way.

There are three types of alpine skiing events in Special Olympics:

Slalom – This has shortest courses, but is the most technical event as it has the tightest turns and closest gate spacing.

Giant Slalom – This is the middle ground. It has the wider turns than slalom but is more technical than super G. Giant slalom has more gates than slalom, and they are spaced further apart.

Super G – This event is all about speed. It has the fewest gates, and they’re spaced farther apart.

Snowboarding

Special Olympics snowboarding has the same aim as skiing – get down the slope as fast as you can while weaving between the gates.

Like with alpine skiing, snowboarding has three different types of events – slalom, giant slalom, and super G. See the alpine skiing section above for explanations on each of these events.

Unified Sports

Special Olympics Unified Sports brings together people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team. In Unified Sports, Special Olympics athletes train and play alongside people without intellectual disabilities (called unified partners) of similar age and ability. This could be friends or family or support people.

Basketball, bocce, and golf are currently offered as unified sports.

Unified Sports are about giving people with and without intellectual disabilities an environment where they can development a better understanding of each other and build lasting friendships.

So check out your local club and find out what’s going on in your area!

Click here for a list of Special Olympics clubs