Special Olympics Still Lacking Awareness
by Ava Campbell
Athletes are describing the record number of participants in this year’s National Special Olympics in Melbourne recently as a “wake up call” for the disability community to get involved.
Victorian 1500m sprint winner Harry Mezger says a lot of people “don’t know about the Special Olympics” and describes them as important.
Mezger says there is a big push to bring in more participants in the 2030 Special Olympics with a goal of over 1,000 athletes. “It’s less about me and more about the local disability community,” he says of that goal.
In its 50th year since inception, the National Special Olympics saw 850 athletes from across the country compete in thirteen different events in Victoria’s capital city
The key differences between the National Special Olympics and the Paralympics is that the former welcomes participants with autism, an intellectual disability or cognitive delay and the Paralympics limits their disability to a permanent physical, vision, or intellectual impairment.
With 750 athletes competing in the last competition held in Tasmania in 2022, the disability community is eager to keep pushing for higher numbers, with the Games being more than just competing. “It's also about education, support, and motivation,” Mezger explained. “The athletes do sport for all sorts of different reasons.”
Long jump winner Claudia Flamini says the games provide a great opportunity for people with autism, but there is also room to grow into that awareness within the community by promoting the inclusion of mental health disabilities within the games
“I definitely think it's a really good opportunity,” she adds. “It's not well-known, especially in Australia, and they don't really advocate for a lot of autism and intellectual disabilities.”
The runner’s coach and mother, Maria Flamini, found her avenue to help players at community level. The WA volunteer has been involved with the Special Olympics as a coach for the last four years and was cheering on athletes all week long in Melbourne.
“We try to combine mainstream with Special Olympics to give them another so they can still participate on weekends and not be segregated into a separate competition.”
Flamini has seen significant growth within her club and hopes that it can continue to grow.
A former Paralympian himself, Harry Mezger says the Special Olympics Games are different from the Paralympics because the latter creates more stress and less cohesion.
“In the Paralympics, people aren't getting up and hugging each other or giving each other high fives or cheering each other on,” he continues. “It's all about just beating the person -but that's not what this should be about.”
According to Mezger, the Games are important to the athletes because barriers in everyday life seem removed at their events. “I feel like it's just generally important for society,” he said. “It’s showing the world that Special Olympics and the people are real.”
Mezger says there are many ways to get involved in the Special Olympics. In Victoria, there are twelve different Special Olympics’ clubs, with training, facilities and education available to anyone interested in participating as an athlete, coach or volunteer – with or without a disability. Register interest via the Special Olympics website https://www.specialolympics.com.au/participate.
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