Fun Facts

Special Olympics World Games Trivia

• Special Olympics World Summer Games, 17-25 June 2023, Berlin , Germany
• 7,000 athletes
• 190 delegations
• 26 sports (9 for Team Australia)
• 9 days of competition
• 8 sports venues in and around Berlin
• 4002 medals (1-3) and 6,670 place ribbons (4-8) awarded
• 50,000 spectators at the Opening Ceremony at Olympiastadion
• 21,000 spectators at the Closing Ceremony at the Brandenburg Gate
• 1,800 accredited media - a World Games record!
• Special Olympics Germany was the largest delegation with 573 people
• Cheuk In Wai (Hong Kong) won the first gold medal in rhythmic gymnastics
• Loretta Claiborne from the USA was the oldest athlete at 69. She won gold in tennis
• Loretta is the Chief Inspiration Officer at Special Olympics International
• The youngest athlete was 12-year-old Valery Vera (gymnastics) from Paraguay
• 216 municipalities hosted 170 delegations in the Host Town Program
• 2 babies were born to delegation members during the Games
• 100 Torch Runs occurred across Germany before the Flame of Hope came to Berlin
• 15,353 Healthy Athletes screenings were conducted across seven disciplines
• Healthy Athletes had 100 doctors, 70 dentists and 715 students from 59 countries
• 1,065 eyeglass prescriptions were issued
• 42,458 accreditations were issued
• The youngest accredited person was 5-months-old
• 457 accredited people were named Michael - the most popular name at the Games!
• 71 translators in plain language and sign language interpreters were on duty
• 7,500 people enjoyed the Athletes' Party, the first ever hosted at the World Games
• 180 floral arrangements and 20 trees decorated the equestrian venue
• 4,200 badminton balls were delivered to the exhibition hall at Messe
• 2,090kg of weights were provided for powerlifting athletes
• 5 tons of food were prepared
• More than 550 hectolitres of drinks and about 79,000 meals were consumed
• Beef stew with potato wedges and spaghetti bolognese were most popular
• 50,000 rolls and 8,000 loaves of bread were consumed
• The Special Olympics World Games mascot was called Unity
• 13 versions of Unity where at the Opening Ceremony and 2 at the Closing Ceremony
• Unity received up to 10,000 hugs per day – more than 500 per Unity per day
• The selfies with Unity were countless

Banner picture: The Team Australia athletics team brought their own mascot to the World Games, a giant inflatable Koala costume which Assistant Coach, James Costello seems very happy to wear, much to the amusement of Head Coach, Scott Shearer!