Special Olympics Bharat athletes run Delhi Half Marathon to spread power of sports
Oct 17, 2022
New Delhi [India], October 17 : Special Olympics Bharat athletes run the Delhi Half Marathon to spread the power of sports To spread awareness about the Special Olympics World Summer Games to be held in Berlin in June 2023, 50 Special Olympics athletes from Delhi NCR along with their buddies ran 2.5 km at the Delhi Half Marathon, demonstrating their positive energy and determination to win at the global sporting competition.
The Champions with Disability and the Senior Citizens Run category showcased inclusivity at the heart of the event. The athletes with intellectual disabilities joined about 25,000+ runners from all over the world on Sunday morning at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
The SO Bharat leadership including Mallika Nadda, Chairperson and Air Cmde LK Sharma, Executive Director enthusiastically converged at the event to cheer up the runners. The Champions with Disability category was flagged off at 7:25 am.
On occasion, Mallika Nadda commented: "The Champions with Disability is a brilliant initiative taken up by The Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon. It offers a chance to people with disabilities to be competitive and have an immersive experience of running, which is the ultimate goal. It also makes sure they enjoy and feel welcomed while participating in any sport. It is time we changed the perception of people to recognize & accept the abilities of people with differences, enabling them to have meaningful sports experiences."
The spirit of inclusivity took over the atmosphere at the event with the Great Delhi Run, which was flagged off at 9.10 am. It witnessed thousands of participants running for the causes they believed in and wanted to support by bringing them under the spotlight through the race. The #RangDeDilli spirit which resonated unconditionally with all runners showcased the power of sport to spread joy and bring down barriers to promote togetherness.
Siddhant Nath, Athlete and Board Member of SO Bharat who led the team commented: "I felt so proud as I held the SO Bharat banner and led the SO Bharat team. We should definitely be part of events as enormous as this so that we get to engage with people from different backgrounds and they too get familiar with us, and we all enjoy truly inclusive moments."
Approx 200 Athletes and 60 Coaches from Special Olympics Bharat will be participating in 14 sports at the Special Olympics World Summer Games being held from 17-23 June 2023 in Berlin Germany. About 7,000 Special Olympics athletes and Unified Partners from approximately 170 countries would compete in 24 sports at the mega event. Since 1987, 1266 athletes have participated in the Special Olympics World Games winning 1499 medals. The Delhi Run was an opportunity for them to draw the attention of the communities to accept differences, engage with them and to include them as respectable individuals.
