On the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the global Special Olympics movement, Youth leaders of SO Bharat geared up in Gurgaon, Mumbai and Hyderabad to spread the message of ‘Revolution Inclusion’ to raise awareness for Special Olympics & Play Unified. The day is also celebrated as Special Olympics’ Golden Anniversary & Eunice Kennedy Shriver Day, who was the Founder of Special Olympics.

In Gurgaon, as a part of the Scottish High International School’s annual festival SHISMUN Fiesta, a sporting fundraiser was organised by the youth leaders on 20th July 2018 across 5 disciplines, namely, Aquatics, Basketball, Badminton, Football and Table Tennis. The program saw participation of students of grades 6-12. The fundraising rounds were preceded by Unified engagements across all the disciplines bringing together persons with and without Intellectual disabilities as teammates.

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Additionally in Mumbai, a meet & greet session was also organised between WWE Superstar Braun Strowman and SO Bharat athletes from Maharashtra. SO Bharat also organised a Kick-a-thon, a football fundraising event where 20 unified teams competed in a 5-a-side tournament at the Lions Municipal Sports Complex, Santacruz. The event was supported by Hridey Sahgal, Youth leader from The International School Bangalore (TISB), who also raised funds through a Swimathon in his school and promised to expand the initiative to more parts of the country.

Following the 2 events, 20 medallists from the previous Special Olympics World Games and few athletes preparing for the upcoming Special Olympics World Summer Games 2019 engaged exclusively with the WWE Superstar Braun Strowman at the ITC Kakatiya, Hyderabad on 21st July 2018. The tour of the superstar upholds the partnership of WWE with Special Olympics in support of Play Unified and the Special Olympics’ campaign focused on creating change through sports. This partnership’s goal is to utilize WWE’s global voice and platforms to raise awareness for Special Olympics and Play Unified.

Celebrating 50 years of Special Olympics, Air Marshal (Retd) Denzil Keelor PVSM, KC, AVSM, VrC,, Founder & CEO SO Bharat said “This is a glorious year for Special Olympics as it marks 50 years of this incredible movement. I would like to congratulate all the youth leaders for their continued participation and support for spreading the message of Revolution Inclusion.”