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Special Olympics

Floor Speech

Date: July 28, 2008
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Arts, Entertainment, and History


SPECIAL OLYMPICS -- (Senate - July 28, 2008)

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I want to mark the anniversary of a great tradition, one that ties my home State of Illinois with the nation of Greece. The Special Olympics, which brings people with intellectual disabilities together for athletic competition, began 40 years ago this month.

In fact, the first Special Olympics were held on Soldier Field in Chicago. It all started when a young woman named Anne McGlone had an idea. She was a physical education instructor at West Pullman park on the southeast side. The Chicago Park district came to her to ask if she had any ideas to help kids with special needs.

Anne McGlone ran with it. She asked the Kennedy Foundation for a one-time donation of $25,000 to put on the first Special Olympics. On July 20, 1968, about 1,000 athletes from 26 American States, and Canada, got together and ran, swam and played hockey.

Anne McGlone, now Anne Burke, went on to law school. She is now on the supreme court of the State of Illinois. But she kept working on the Special Olympics along the way.

With the continued support of Eunice and Sargent Shriver and the Kennedy foundation, the Special Olympics grew. Today, the Special Olympics is a huge international movement that has brought together millions of people with intellectual disabilities in 175 countries around the world. I congratulate the Special Olympics for 40 years of empowering people with intellectual disabilities.

Last summer, the Special Olympics summer games were held in Shanghai, China. Next time around, in 2011, they will be held in Athens, Greece. It is fitting for Greece, with its proud Olympic tradition, to host the Special Olympics, and I wish the Greek Government every success as it prepares to host the games.

Closer to home, the next Special Olympics winter games will be held in 2009 in Boise, ID. And even closer to home, just as Chicago hopes to host the next Olympic games in 2016, I hope that one day the Special Olympics will come back to Chicago, where it started 40 years ago.


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