Special Olympics New Zealand
Special Olympics New Zealand founder, Grant Quinn received the Sir Eion and Jan, Lady Edgar Lifetime Achievement Award, at the Sport New Zealand Awards on Monday 24 July 2023. If you asked a person what they’d achieved in their life and they said, ‘Founded the Special Olympics in New Zealand’, you’d think wow, that’s pretty […]
Our World Games team are scheduled to arrive back in New Zealand on Friday. If you would like to welcome our athletes home, here are the arrival times for each of our regions. Auckland: 12:50am Tauranga: 10:30am New Plymouth: 11:20am Palmerston North: 12:05pm Wellington: 1:10pm Christchurch: 1:25pm Dunedin 2:20pm Invercargill: 12:15pm
Two centuries after Napoleon marched under the famous Brandenburg Gate in the heart of Berlin, the New Zealand Special Olympics team danced their way down the same boulevard to celebrate conquering the World Summer Games. The 39 New Zealand athletes and 22 support staff had plenty to celebrate after they earned themselves a record high […]
Our athletes weren’t just stars in the competition arena during the World Games with many also lighting up our TV screens as they shared their stories on national broadcasts. As well as being regular stars on Morning TV, the teams’ exploits also made it to prime time with Ryan Stewart, Aaron Campbell, Melissa Cash, Lynett […]
New Zealand athletes have a knack of stepping up on the Saturday of any Olympics and the Special Olympics World Summer Games followed that tradition with three gold, four silver and two bronze medal in the space of a few hours. The total of 34 medals in Berlin so far is two more than the […]
As a weather bomb tormented Berlin and threw the Special Olympics World Summer Games in turmoil, the indoor athletes on the bowling alleys, dressage rink and swimming pool continued to lead the way and claiming five more medal for New Zealand. Tenpin bowlers Kristie Sharp and Shanae Dean were the first to pick up their […]
Aucklander Mitch Brown yesterday fulfilled a promise he made to himself and his dad that he would win a gold medal at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Berlin. “A few years ago, when I told Mitch about Special Olympics and the World Summer Games in Berlin in 2023, he said I’m going to […]
Bay of Plenty powerlifter Caroline Tangitau replicated the stunning feat of her team-mate Ryan Stewart by winning four silver medals at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Berlin. “It went great,” was Tangitau’s wonderful understatement after claiming four medals in the largest inclusive sports event on the planet, where 7000 competitors with an intellectual […]
Tauranga athletes were amongst the winners on day three of the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Berlin, as the New Zealand team claimed five medals in one day. Ten-pin bowler Len Just and coach Raewyn Judson were part of the team that claimed a bronze in the team event. The tenpin bowling team started […]
Powerlifter Ryan Stewart from Dunedin was the first New Zealand athlete to claim a medal at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Berlin. The 37-year-old overcame some initial wobbles at the powerlifting cauldron at the enormous Messe convention complex to perform near his best to claim not one, but four silver medals. The final […]