Special Olympics New Zealand
Grace Payne is the first New Zealander to be granted the highest honour in international Special Olympics when she was named as one of their Global Messengers. Each four-year cycle, only 10 athletes from the 5.6 million registered athletes with an intellectual disability are named to campaign for a more inclusive world. Payne from the […]
Canterbury Special Olympics athletes and coaches can’t wait for the National Summer Games taking over Christchurch in two years. Over 1300 athletes with an intellectual disability and thousands of coaches, volunteers and families will be pouring into the Garden City for their four-yearly pinnacle event to compete in 11 sports at the brand-new venues around […]
Special Olympics New Zealand is excited to confirm that we have requested a quota allocation for the World Winter Games in 2025, to be held in Torino, Italy. While we eagerly await confirmation on the final allocations, we are pleased to announce the opening of applications for the Head of Delegation position. In the linked […]
On Thursday 21 September our Athlete Leadership Class of 2023 gathered at Pelorus Trust Sportshouse for their first in-person workshop. The athlete leaders were welcomed by SONZ Founder Grant Quinn and 2014 Graduate Ryan Smith who both spoke about what they have to look forward to as they undertake the Special Olympics New Zealand Athlete […]
Here are all the final results from the 2023 National Winter Games which took place at Cardrona Alpine Resort from August 15-17. Congratulations to all the athletes who competed on their incredible achievements. Alpine SkiingAdvanced Giant Slalom ResultsIntermediate Giant Slalom ResultsAdvanced Slalom ResultsIntermediate Slalom Results SnowboardingIntermediate Giant Slalom ResultsSnowboard Cross Results
The top Special Olympics alpine athletes from around New Zealand will be battling for medals at the National Winter Games, in Wanaka from August 15-18. The Special Olympics National Winter Games are the four-yearly pinnacle event for athletes with an intellectual disability competing in skiing and snowboarding events, and this year’s games will be the […]
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 […]
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 […]