Today marks the one year to go until the start of the Special Olympics World Summer Games which will take place next summer in Berlin from 17th to 25th June 2023.
Special Olympics World Summer Games are the largest inclusive sports event in the world when thousands of athletes with intellectual disabilities from countries from across the globe get together to compete in 26 summer sports and Unified Sports® competitions. Or in other words - eight days of exciting and inspiring competitions, by athletes, for athletes.
This is the first time that Berlin has hosted a Special Olympics World Games and it promises to be a fabulous, colourful, international festival of sports – with the aim of achieving greater recognition and social participation of people with intellectual disabilities in our society.
Special Olympics GB will be there with a team of 107 athletes (and Unified Partners) to take part in 18 sports, and we can’t wait!
Following a nomination and selection process that took place across the last two months, we are delighted to share the news that we have appointed our Berlin 2023 Management Team.
We are thrilled to announce our Head of Delegation, Stephen Walker and our Assistant Head of Delegation, Sarah Barron.
Stephen is a volunteer with Special Olympics Wales and has undertaken a variety of coaching and leadership roles at National and international level, principally in the sport of athletics and has attended several international events in a management team capacity. Stephen has been an athlete for 40 years having represented Wales and Great Britain at International events and still competes for Wales at Masters events at a national level.
Stephen Walker, Head of Delegation for Berlin 2023 said: “I am very pleased, excited, and honoured to be your Special Olympics Great Britain Head of Delegation for next year’s Special Olympics World Games in Berlin, Germany. I am looking forward to working with you all during the next year leading up to the event and putting together a successful Great Britain team.”
Sarah, a long-standing event volunteer with Special Olympics GB and International, has been involved in several, previous National, World Summer and World Winter games. Sarah has been a delegation liaison for the last two World Games, is fluent in German and has extensive major event experience, from Commonwealth Games to organisation of Pride in London.
Sarah Barron, Assistant Head of Delegation said: “I'm really excited to be a part of the Special Olympics GB delegation for the 2023 World Summer Games in Berlin and am looking forward to working with & supporting the Special Olympics GB team, athletes and volunteers. It is an absolute honour for me to take on this role and to be a part of ensuring a successful & enjoyable game for all involved."
Stephen and Sarah will be supported in their roles by Laura Davies (Senior Project and Event Manager) who will undertake the Staff Assistant Head of Delegation role within the management team.
Huge congratulations to Stephen and Sarah on their appointments and we wish them all the best for their Berlin 2023 experience!
We are also excited to announce that the Athlete Nomination process for Berlin 2023 is now open!!
• Nominations will open from 6th June and close on Friday 26th August 2022.
• Please note that the process has been updated from previous World Games and is now via an Easy read online form. We are not able to accept postal nominations.
• Click HERE to access the form and guidance documents on the Special Olympics GB website
Good luck to all our athletes going through this process.
If you’re interested in getting involved and being a part of the Berlin 2023 team, there are several volunteer opportunities still available. Applications are still open for Head Coaches, Safeguarding and Welfare Officer, a Medical Officer and a Physiotherapist. If you’d like to know more, please click HERE.