Special Olympics Asia Pacific Newsletter Archive

To help athletes stay updated on the latest health information during the Covid-19 pandemic, Special Olympics Asia Pacific has launched a series of easy to read, accessible educational materials.

The series will help people with intellectual disabilities better understand Covid-19, and how to take care of themselves during the pandemic. Taking into account the diversity of the region, it has also been translated to several languages like Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Melayu, Divahe, Hindi, Japanese, Khmer, Mandarin, Tetun, and Urdu.

Part 1: http://bit.ly/Special-Olympics-Covid-19-Signs

Part 2: http://bit.ly/Special-Olympics-Covid-Tips

This series is made possible with materials adapted and uploaded to the Swipe Direct platform from Access Easy English guides.

A WINNER IN EVERY RIGHT

Sarah Dalton, a gold medalist from Special Olympics New Zealand was born with CHARGE syndrome, a rare condition that has caused her a loss of hearing, smell and vision, resulting in 32 surgeries and countless health scares. She's also been the victim of horrific bullying.

But Sarah has never stopped chasing her dreams and was recently part of the Power Rangers Dino Fury cast on Nickelodeon.

A SERVING OF LOVE

By the age of 10, Special Olympics Singapore athlete Filmer Tan had gone through five brain surgeries. A rare form of brain tumour left him with learning difficulties, but his mother Marcia never stopped believing in him. Today, Filmer isn’t just an accomplished athlete, he also runs his own baking business, thanks to the unwavering support of his mom.

ADAPTING TO TECH TIMES

Special Olympics President and Managing Director, Dipak Natali, shares with Swingvy, a

HR platform, on how the movement has adapted and used technology in the past 18 months, and how these learnings will continue to impact the way SOAP will support their athletes across the region in the future.

"All of our work is shifting more into this area of being more about ensuring connections, both between athletes and other athletes, athletes and their coaches, athletes with their parents, being able to connect with other parents and so forth. So trying to find the avenues to do that, that’s been our focus. Now we’re focusing very much on engaging with them on a virtual basis. Making sure they’re staying healthy, staying fit, and above all, not feeling any more isolated than they already do,” he shares.

NTUC THANKS MOTHERS OF SPECIAL OLYMPICS SINGAPORE ATHLETES

On Mother's Day, Seah Kian Peng, CEO of NTUC Fairprice recognised the mothers and families of Special Olympics athletes and their families, and shared a post on his social media on the decade-long partnership - where he announced NTUC's donation of $60,000 to support the work and to build towards a more inclusive future for athletes.

ADVOCACY EFFORTS BEAR FRUIT FOR SPECIAL OLYMPICS THAILAND

In May, ahead of Thailand’s vaccination drive for the general public in June, 22 Special Olympics Thailand athlete and their family members received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, paving the way for all of Thailand’s athletes.

This is following intensive advocacy efforts including an Op-ed by Dr Naris Chaiyasoot. Chairman, Special Olympics Thailand, pushing for Vaccinations against Covid-19 being prioritized for persons with intellectual disabilities in Thailand,

JULEN LOPETEGUI RENEWS AS SPECIAL OLYMPICS GLOBAL AMBASSADOR

Julen Lopetegui, Sevilla FC manager, has renewed as Special Olympics Global Ambassador.

In a recent video to mark his renewal as Global Ambassador, Julen spoke of this pride and emphasised the important role that sport can play during difficult times.

Lopetegui said, “More than ever, I am proud to be an Ambassador for Special Olympics athletes and coaches … We all need to stay connected to one another and feel the power of sport, and to be able to share experiences and learn and grow. I feel a tremendous pride in representing Special Olympics as a Global Ambassador.”

WINS WON OVER BY SPECIAL OLYMPICS PILIPINAS ATHLETE KAMILLE TINGZON

Special Olympics Pilipinas athlete, Kamille Tingzon, together with SOAP President & Managing Director, Dipak Natali, and Special Olympics Pilipinas National Director, Kaye Samson, were part of a sharing at a recent Women in News and Sports (WINS) event.

The event was attended by female journalists across the region from Fiji, Indonesia, India Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, and Vanuatu.This relationship aims to help increase awareness of the movement to mainstream media and encourage more media coverage of the Special Olympics work across the region as well as the profling of the athletes and events.

SPECIAL OLYMPICS BHARAT ATHLETE

WINS ASPIRE YOUNG ACHIEVERS AWARD

Tanshu, Special Olympics Bharat athlete from Haryana has won the 2021 Aspire Young Achievers Award.

His mother says, “It has given him a standing in the society. People have started respecting and recognizing him. This amount will be invested in continuing his training”.

Tanshu shared that during the lockdown, he created a daily two-hour speed skating routine from his home to a nearby temple which helps him practice his balance and speed.

He will also be participating at the Special Olympics World Winter Games to be held in Kazan, Russia in 2022. Previously, he won two Gold Medals in Speed Skating from the Invitation Games held in Sweden in January 2021.

MEDIA REGISTRATION NOW OPEN

FOR WORLD WINTER GAMES 2022

In early January 2022, 2,000 athletes and Unified partners from over 100 nations will gather in Kazan to compete in alpine skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, floorball, cross-country skiing, figure skating, and short track speedskating. They will be joined by 3,000 volunteers from across the world in the historic city of Kazan, long considered the sports capital of Russia.