Special Olympics World Winter Games in Turin, Italy

type: News , Topic: Sport , Date: 08 March 2025

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser wishes the 53 German athletes the best of luck.

The 2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games start today in Turin, Italy, under the motto ‘The future is here’. At the World Winter Games, which run until 15 March, 53 athletes will represent Germany in eight sport disciplines. More than 1,500 athletes from all over the world are expected to take part in the competitions. 

Like the 2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Berlin, this year’s Winter Games bring people with and without intellectual disabilities together to participate in sports, for example in the Unified Sports programme. The Special Olympics World Games are the world’s largest inclusive sporting event for people with intellectual disabilities. Hosts of the World Games are chosen by Special Olympics International. Like the Olympics and Paralympics, the Special Olympics World Games are held every two years, alternating between winter and summer.

The Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community supports the German team with funding of 400,000 euros. At the traditional reception for the German team on the evening before the start of competitions, Federal Minister Nancy Faeser recalled the Special Olympics values of determination, joy and respect, and wished the athletes a ‘successful and unforgettable time in Italy’.

Disciplines in which the German team is competing at the Special Olympics World Winter Games Turin 2025

National Winter Games Special Olympics Germany 2024

DanceSport: solo, Unified duo; venue: Bardonecchia

Dancing Competition at the National Winter Games Special Olympics Germany 2024

Source: SOD / Sarah Rauch

Der Special Olympics Deutschland e. V. (SOD) was registered in 1991 as a joint initiative of the major German organisations which promote sport for people with intellectual disabilities (such as the Lebenshilfe federal association, the German Caritas Association and the Diakonie social welfare organisation). Today, more than 40,000 athletes in all of Germany’s 16 federal states belong to Special Olympics Deutschland and regularly train at one of the more than 1,100 member facilities. Special Olympics Deutschland is a member of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) as a non-Olympic national federation.

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