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Special Olympics: Sports stars lend voice to World Games
Deutsche Welle
20 Jun 2023, 14:17
As the Special Olympics looks to change the attitude towards disabilities, its athletes are inspiring people the world over. Those include stars from the sport's world like Dirk Nowitzki and Lewis Hamilton.
As the Special Olympics World Games kicked off with its opening ceremony in Berlin's Olympic Stadium, former Dallas Mavericks' star Dirk Nowitzki had one simple request: "Come out and support all the athletes."
The basketball star was not alone in lending his support to the Special Olympians as seven-time Formula 1 champion driver Lewis Hamilton sent a message to the 7,000 Special Olympics athletes from 180 countries, especially those athletes from Great Britain.
"It's really amazing what you are able to do out there," Hamilton said in a video. "Just go out and have the best time and enjoy yourself."
Taking part
Indeed, as Hamilton implies, the "taking part" is as, if not more, important than the competition at the Special Olympics World Games, adding: "I am massively inspired and so proud of all of you."
"It is not about winning or losing but about engaging in sport," said Dirk Nowitzki, the NBA's Most Valuable Player in 2007, who hails from from Würzburg, Germany. "It's about athletes coming together and having the chance to play and learn from sports, just like I did," Nowitzki said after an appearance with the German Special Olympics 3-on-3 basketball teams. "I am happy to experience this."
Romania's five-time Olympic gold medalist Nadia Comaneci is similarly inspired, and not just by the athletes. "Special Olympics is not just about a big event like Berlin, important though that is," she wrote recently. "It's also about the work done at grassroots level" by coaches, trainers and administrators.
3,000 coaches have joined the athletes in Berlin. But that is a drop in the ocean compared to those who work with the six million athletes with intellectual disabilities globally "using sport to create an inclusive world for people of all abilities," as Comaneci, a Global Ambassador for Special Olympics, wrote in a Laureus Sport for Good column.
Challenge to German, European sports clubs
Among the star power boosting Special Olympics in Berlin is a member of unofficial United States royalty. Timothy Shriver, the Chairman of Special Olympics, is a part of the Kennedy family. His mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the younger sister of President John F. Kennedy, helped start the Special Olympics.
He told he sees the Games in Berlin specifically helping German and European sports clubs further open their doors to Special Olympians. "We're very confident that this country will embrace the idea of the Special Olympics as a challenge to be more inclusive in sports clubs and schools."
"Less than 10% of the clubs offer sport for Special Olympics athletes. I hope that the Special Olympics World Games will create more attention."
We hope that this message resonates throughout Europe," Shriver told DW. "People with intellectual disabilities have something unique to offer."
Changing attitudes
As the Special Olympics' inspirational athletes and message continues to resonate around the world, the hope is that events in Berling can further change the perception. "Let's change public attitudes towards disability, Special Olympics," Drogba, the former Ivory Coast football star, has tweeted.
He, like Nadia Comaneci, famous for her the first-ever Olympics perfect gymnasitcs score of 10 in 1976, is a Global Ambassador for Special Olympics. As is Irish golfer Padraig Harrington, American figure skater Michelle Kwan, Chinese tennis star, Li-Na, and a host of other stars from the world of sport.
Speaking to the athletes, Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton said in his video: "I am massively inspired and so proud of all of you, I don't think anyone can understand just how hard the journey has been for all of you to be able to be where you are."
As the World Games continue to inspire people across the globe, many, it seems, are coming closer to that understanding.
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Frattesi late show pushes Inter close to title glory
Davide Frattesi fired Inter Milan one step closer to the Serie A title with his last-gasp winner in Monday's comeback 2-1 victory at struggling Udinese.
Italy midfielder Frattesi poked home the decisive goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time in Udine to maintain Inter's 14-point lead at the top of the table with seven matches left in the season.
Inter looked to be heading for a draw as they toiled to add to Hakan Calhanoglu's penalty, scored nine minutes after half-time, which levelled Lazar Samardzic's freak deflected opener for Udinese.
"We absolutely don't think we've won it yet. We have other matches to play and we need to go out and get it," said Frattesi to Sky Sport.
"I'm really happy, it's a really big win towards we need to do. You can't win every match 4-0, it's important that you also manage to win the tough matches."
AC Milan are Inter's closest challengers and Monday's win ensured that the champions-elect could seal their 20th Scudetto in a hotly-anticipated derby with their local rivals in a fortnight's time.
Claiming the league crown with a sixth straight derby win would be some revenge for Calhanoglu who is detested by Milan supporters after switching sides of the northern Italian city three years ago.
"In all honesty I don't like talking about the other side from where I came," said Calhanoglu.
"I respect them and I have a good relationship with the players. What happened in my first year here is history.
"I'm concentrated on my teammates because they're fantastic... That's what matters."
Udinese meanwhile are in a desperate fight for survival as they are two points above the relegation zone and have to face Napoli, Roma and Bologna before the end of the season.
Inter near glory
Inter are not playing with the same flair as they did before being knocked out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid but they gritted their teeth to come from behind at the Bluenergy Stadium.
Simone Inzaghi's side not only have the chance to win the title in the Milan derby but can also beat the single-season points record of 102 set by Juventus in 2014.
On 82 points, Inter need to win all of their remaining seven matches to take their total for this campaign to 103.
Samardzic's goal came towards the end of a first half in which Inter went close to scoring three times only to be denied by super saves from Maduka Okoye.
Nigeria goalkeeper Okoye twice denied Calhanoglu from opening the scoring with fine efforts from distance before Samardzic gave the hosts a shock lead.
And Okoye pulled off another stunning stop two minutes after his team went ahead, stretching to his left to keep out Lautaro Martinez's thumping goal-bound header.
Inter were further frustrated again right after the break when Carlos Augusto's close-range finish was ruled out for offside but not long afterwards Okoye was penalised for crashing into Marcus Thuram and gave away the spot-kick from which Calhanoglu levelled.
The away side dominated the ball but barely threatened until deep into added time, when Frattesi struck the killer blow.
Frattesi was in the right place at the right time after Lautaro Martinez's rasping shot was pushed onto the post by Okoye, forcing home his seventh and most important goal of the season.
Reddy helps Hyderabad edge Punjab in IPL thriller
Sunrisers Hyderabad survived a late assault by Punjab Kings batsmen Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma to win by two runs in an IPL thriller on Tuesday.
Nitish Kumar Reddy, a 20-year-old batting all-rounder, pulled Hyderabad out of early trouble to guide them to 182-9 after being invited to bat first at Punjab's new home Mullanpur.
Punjab looked down and out at 114-6 but Shashank (46) and Sharma (33) put on an unbeaten stand of 66 off 27 balls to give Hyderabad a scare as Punjab ended on 180-6.
Hyderabad's Pat Cummins looked a relieved captain after left-arm quick Jaydev Unadkat just about defended 29 runs in the last over, which witnessed three dropped catches in the deep.
Cummins, who was paid $2.5 million by Hyderabad in the auction, praised Reddy for his batting, one wicket and a catch as well.
"He was awesome, fantastic debut last week," Australia's World Cup-winning captain said.
"Straight to the top for the order, fantastic in the field, bowled three overs too. To get us to 180 off his bat, it was amazing."
Bhuvneshwar Kumar took two wickets to play a key part in Hyderabad's third win in five matches to stay fifth, above Punjab in the 10-team table.
But Reddy set up victory with his 37-ball 64 laced with four fours and five sixes as he put on a key 50-run sixth-wicket stand with Abdul Samad, who hit a 12-ball 25.
Punjab quick Arshdeep Singh struck twice in the space of three balls to send back Travis Head, for 21, and Aiden Markram, for a duck, before Reddy took charge.
Reddy rebuilt the innings as he stood firm despite wickets falling around him and mixed the right dose of caution and aggression.
Arshdeep again struck twice in an over as he sent back Samad and Reddy but Shahbaz Ahmed steered the team to a total which eventually proved enough with his unbeaten seven-ball 14.
Sam Curran and Harshal Patel took two wickets each but leaked runs.
Punjab wobbled early in their chase after Cummins took down Jonny Bairstow for a three-ball duck and soon slipped to 58-4 when Curran departed on 29.
Zimbabwe's Sikander Raza hit 28 but it was number six Shashank and number eight Sharma who took on the chase only to finish two short.
"There was always the hope that they could finish the game. Hats off to them that they brought it this close," Punjab skipper Shikhar Dhawan said after their third loss this season.
"Gives us confidence and hope for the next game. We have to do better in certain areas and improve."
Source: BSS
Miami, Messi crash out of CONCACAF Champions Cup
Mexican side Monterrey sent Lionel Messi and Inter Miami crashing out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup on Wednesday after completing a 5-2 aggregate victory in their quarter-final clash.
Goals from Brandon Vazquez, German Berterame and Jesus Gallardo sealed a deserved 3-1 win on the night for the Liga-MX side, who advance to a semi-final with Major League Soccer champions Columbus.
Trailing 2-1 after last week's first leg in Florida, Inter Miami recalled Argentine superstar Messi to their starting line-up for the first time since his near-month-long injury absence.
But the presence of the eight-time Ballon D'Or winner was not enough to inspire Inter against a Monterrey side who looked far sharper in all departments.
Inter goalkeeper Drake Callender was forced into action early on, saving smartly after a bullet header by Monterrey's US international striker Vazquez.
Messi had Miami's best chance of the first half but he shot over the bar from just inside the area on 25 minutes.
Monterrey took the lead on 31 minutes after Vazquez punished a howler from Callender.
The goalkeeper miscued an attempted pass to Sergio Busquets and found Vazquez just yards from the Miami goal.
The American coolly picked his spot, sent Callender the wrong way and tucked away the finish.
Inter Miami created little of note thereafter, with Messi's former Barcelona team-mate Luis Suarez rightly having a goal disallowed for offside in first-half stoppage time.
On 58 minutes, Monterrey left Miami with a mountain to climb with a fantastic strike from their own Argentine striker Berterame.
After crisp approach play, Berterame jinked clear of his marker on the edge of the area and crashed a thunderous strike into the top corner.
Six minutes later Berterame turned provider, chipping a cross to an unmarked Gallardo, who buried a perfectly timed header past Callender.
A miserable night for Miami ended in acrimony on 78 minutes when former Barcelona defender Jordi Alba was sent off after picking up his second yellow card for a stamp on Gallardo.
Diego Gomez nodded in a late consolation goal for Miami from Messi's inviting free-kick on 85 minutes but it was too little too late for the MLS club.
The CONCACAF Champions Cup is the premier regional club competition for North America, Central America and the Caribbean, with the winner of this year's tournament earning a place at next year's expanded FIFA Club World Cup.
Mexican clubs have dominated the Champions Cup since Guadalajara won the first edition in 1962, lifting the trophy 38 times.
Source: BSS
Bangladeshi batters make gains in Test rankings
Despite a 2-0 series defeat against Sri Lanka in the ICC World Test Championship, several Bangladeshi batters have shown progress in the latest ICC Men's Test Player Rankings.
ICC released a new ranking update recently .
Opener Zakir Hasan, who scored of 54 and 19, has climbed three places to reach the 75th position in the Test batting rankings. Mehidy Hasan Miraz, known for his all-round abilities, has also moved up the rankings, jumping from 99th to 88th position after a 81 not out in the second innings of the Chattogram Test.
Another notable gain comes from Mominul Haque, who has moved up four slots to reach the 46th position after scoring 83 runs in two innings he played.
The series also saw significant movements for Sri Lankan players, with all-rounder Kamindu Mendis and former captain Angelo Mathews making notable gains in both batting and bowling rankings.
Sri Lanka's bowlers Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, and Lahiru Kumara also improved their positions following strong performances in the series.
Chelsea's £ 90 million loss puts pressure on for player sales
Chelsea face a huge challenge to avoid breaching Premier League sustainability rules after posting an £ 89.8 million ($112 million) loss for the 2022/23 season.
The Blues' wage bill soared to over œ 400 million last season, while they splashed out £ 745 million on transfer fees.
But that investment in the club's first full season under an American investment consortium fronted by LA Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly failed to deliver success on the field.
Chelsea finished 12th in the Premier League last season despite having the second highest wage bill, behind only English champions Manchester City.
Mauricio Pochettino's men currently sit ninth in the table this season despite a further £ 454 million being spent on new players since June 30, 2023.
Chelsea's losses were mitigated by the sale of a hotel for £ 76.3m to the club's parent company BlueCo.
Figures for the current season are likely to be even worse as Chelsea are not involved in European football.
A run to the Champions League quarter-finals last season was worth around £ 83 million.
Football Association figures released on Friday also showed the west London club have spent a Premier League record £ 75 million on agents' fees alone this season.
Chelsea are likely to have to raise significant sums from selling players before the end of June to avoid falling foul of the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules (PSR).
Premier League clubs are allowed to lose a maximum of £ 105 million across a three-year assessment period.
Chelsea posted a £ 121 million loss in the 2021/22 season.
Everton have been deducted a total of eight points on two separate charges and Nottingham Forest docked four points for breaches of PSR this season.
Source: BSS
Paris 2024 Games flame to be lit in ancient Olympia
The sacred flame for the Paris 2024 Olympics is to be lit Tuesday in ancient Olympia, birthplace of the ancient Games, for an epic torch relay stretching from the Acropolis to the South Pacific.
Hundreds of dignitaries and spectators are expected to attend the ritual in the small Peloponnese town in southwestern Greece where the Olympics were born in 776 BCE, and where the ceremony is held every two years for the summer and winter Olympics.
For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic imposed toned-down events for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2022 Beijing Winter Games, spectators will be able to attend the torch relay events.
At a rehearsal Monday, Greek actress Mary Mina brought the Olympic flame into life with the help of a parabolic polished mirror before handing it to the first torch bearer, 2020 Olympic rowing champion Stefanos Ntouskos.
It will be used as a backup in case overcast skies forecast for Tuesday prevent the mirror from producing flame.
The ceremony will be conducted at the ruins of the 2,600-year-old Temple of Hera, with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach heading the list of dignitaries.
French sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo will also be present.
"We hear nature, the rustling of the leaves, there is a sacred silence," Artemis Ignatiou, the choreographer and artistic director of the Olympic flame ceremony, told state TV ERT about the ceremony's dance performance.
"There are moments when we feel as if we are hovering above the ground. It's like travelling back in time," she said.
American mezzo soprano Joyce DiDonato is to deliver the Olympic anthem.
The torch harks back to the ancient Olympics when a sacred flame burned throughout the Games. The tradition was revived in 1936 for the Berlin Games.
Retired French swimmer Laure Manaudou, who won a gold medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics, is strongly tipped to be France's first torchbearer in Olympia, according to sources in Greece.
During the 11-day relay on Greek soil, some 600 torchbearers will carry the flame over a distance of 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles) through 41 municipalities.
Carried by ship
The Olympic flame will be handed over to Paris 2024 organisers in a ceremony at the all-marble Panathenaic Stadium, site of the first modern Olympic Games of 1896, on April 26.
Nana Mouskouri, the 89-year-old Greek singer with a worldwide following, has been invited to perform at the ceremony.
On April 27, the flame will begin its journey to France on board the 19th-century three-masted barque Belem, which was launched just weeks after the Athens 1896 Games.
A French historical monument, the Belem carried out trade journeys to Brazil, Guyana and the Caribbean for nearly two decades.
France's last surviving three-mast steel-hulled boat, it is expected to arrive in Marseille on May 8.
Ten thousand torchbearers will then carry the flame across 64 French territories.
It will travel through 400 towns and dozens of tourist attractions during its 12,000-kilometre (7,500-mile) journey through mainland France and overseas French territories in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Pacific.
On July 26 it will form the centrepiece of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony on the river Seine -- the first time it has not been held in the Games' main stadium.
Source: BSS
Countdown to the Paris Olympics begins Stefan Nestler
The Olympic flame has been lit with 100 days left before Paris 2024 kicks off in the French capital. At a time of global crisis, security will be a top priority.
On Tuesday, the Olympic flame was lit in the ancient ruins of the Temple of Hera in Olympia in southwestern Greece. It will now make its way to Paris, where the Summer Olympic Games are due to open on July 26.
Until the closing ceremony on August 11, 10,500 athletes from 206 countries will compete at Paris 2024 in 32 disciplines.
The French government has said that security will be the top priority during the event. Some 45,000 police and gendarme officers will be deployed every day, as well as 18,000 soldiers and 20,000 private security guards.
In addition, more than 2,000 foreign police officers, including from Germany, will be helping to keep guard.
Macron: 'We can do it'
France increased its security alert to its highest level after an attack by Islamist terrorists in Moscow at the end of March left more than 140 people dead.
Providing security for the opening ceremony alone will be a huge logistical challenge: 160 boats carrying athletes are due to sail six kilometers (3.78 miles) along the Seine River. More than 300,000 spectators are expected.
"We can do it and we are going to do it," French President Emmanuel Macron insists. But he has also admitted that there are back-up plans in place should the security threat become too acute. These would include holding the opening ceremony in a stadium.
Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine and concerns about a further escalation of the situation in the Middle East have exacerbated fears of a security threat.
Despite this, eight of the 10 million available tickets for the 2024 Summer Olympics have already been sold and some 15 million spectators are expected.
Parisians not looking forward
It will be a test for the French capital's infrastructure. Last autumn, Clement Beaune, who was France's transport minister at the time, described the plans to organize traffic as "hardcore." Security barriers and diversions will be abundant, particularly around the Eiffel Tower and the Place de la Concorde. Some metro stations will be closed.
The price of metro tickets will be doubled during the Games. This is unlikely to increase the enthusiasm of Parisians for the event. In a recent poll, 44% said that they thought that Paris 2024 was a "bad thing."
Germany's team in Paris one of the biggest
The Olympic qualification period ends officially on June 23. The German Athletics Association (DLV) has made qualifying for Paris 2024 also dependent on performance at the European Athletics Championships taking place in Rome starting June 7.
The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) has to register the German athletes competing in Paris 2024 by July 8. It expects 400 to participate, which would make Germany's "Team D" one of the biggest national teams.
In 2021, 415 Germans took part in the Games in the Japanese capital Tokyo, winning 10 gold medals, 11 silver medals and 16 bronze medals. It was the German team's worst haul since German reunification. The DOSB is hoping for better results this year. "I believe that Team D will play a good role, and that one or two surprises are possible," said sport director Olaf Tabor.
Belarusian and Russian athletes to compete as 'neutrals'
Last December, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) cleared athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete in Paris 2024, but as "neutrals," and not as part of teams. They will be banned from attending the opening ceremony, and nobody who has actively shown support for the war in Ukraine will be allowed to compete at all.
The Russian and Belarusian national anthems will not be played, and national symbols and flags will be prohibited.
According to the IOC, only 12 Russian athletes and five Belarusians have qualified for Paris 2024 so far, but the numbers could rise to 36 (Russia) and 22 (Belarus). In Tokyo, 330 Russians and 104 Belarusians competed. In an open letter to the IOC last week, Ukraine demanded the complete exclusion of Russia and Belarus from the Olympics.
The IOC has come under fire from various quarters over its decisions regarding Russia and Belarus. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the body had become "a place where neo-Nazism and racism flourish."
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete was "shameful." He added that the IOC had essentially given Russia "the green light to weaponize the Olympics" because it would use athletes "as a weapon in its propaganda warfare." The Germany-based human rights organization Society for Threatened Peoples described IOC President Thomas Bach as a "dinosaur" who was incapable of learning.
At the lighting of the flame ceremony in Olympia, Bach repeated a message of hope: "Today, the Olympic Games are the only event that brings the entire world together in peaceful competition. […] Then as now, the Olympic athletes are sending this powerful message: Yes, it is possible to compete fiercely against each other and at the same time live peacefully together under one roof."
Bach's term is due to end in 2025, but some IOC members have suggested changing the statutes so that he can continue as president for another four years. The 70-year-old has said he would rather wait until after Paris 2024 to make a decision on this.
