MAYOR KICKS OFF OPENING CEREMONIES OF SPECIAL OLYMPICS METRO TOURNAMENT
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today kicked off the Opening Ceremonies of the 1997 Special Olympics Metro Tournament at Riverbank State Park in Manhattan. The Metro Tournament featured more than 1,000 Special Olympics athletes ages eight and up from New York City, who participated in six sports: aquatics, basketball, gymnastics, track and field, volleyball and powerlifting.
"The Special Olympics are a wonderful experience for children and adults with mental retardation. This extraordinary event gives these special athletes a chance to participate in challenging sports events," said Mayor Giuliani. "All of the athletes here today are courageous and talented competitors who like New York itself, are shining stars."
Special Olympics International is the world's largest sports program for children and adults with mental retardation. Run almost entirely by volunteers, Special Olympics encourages all persons with mental retardation to become active and productive citizens by positively impacting the physical, social and psychological development.
New York Special Olympics is a private, non-profit organization which serves to fulfill the mission of Special Olympics within New York State. Across the state, over 400,000 athletes are involved in year-round training, area, sectional, state and international competitions. A network of nearly 22,000 volunteers across the state provide support to the athletes as coaches, committee members and event volunteers.
Now in its ninth year, the Metro Tournament is the cornerstone of the pilot plan designed to bring the rewards of the Special Olympics to even more people with mental retardation. New York is the country's largest Special Olympics chapter and through outreach activities such as the Metro Tournament, the organization continues to break through barriers and bring the benefits of the Special Olympics to greater numbers of people.
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