Kazan's dreams of the Olympics led to a somewhat unexpected result. As we remember, after high ratings from important IOC officials, the city seriously thought about the main Games, but the political situation prevented it. Then the conversation turned to the youth Olympics, but the project was frozen by the pandemic. But the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan received a special Olympics. "BUSINESS Online" tells you what it is.
AFTER THE SWEDISH DEMARCHE
On the eve of Kazan received the right to organize a winter special (for people with disabilities in mental development) The 2022 Olympics. The tournament will be held on January 22-28. Initially, Sweden was supposed to host the Games in 2021, but, refusing to provide additional funding (to the original budget of the Olympics of $14 million, it was necessary to add another $6 million), resigned from its obligations. I had to urgently look for a new place.
The previous winter special Olympics was held in 2017 in Graz, Austria. As in normal Games, there is a four-year pause between tournaments, but due to the fact that Kazan has yet to undergo specialist inspections, and in the conditions of a pandemic it is not possible to do this quickly, the tournament was decided to be moved to 2022. The organizing Committee of the special Olympics does not disclose the financial burden of the host party.
"The world special Olympics movement is confident that Kazan will be able to host world — class Games that will have a really positive impact on the development of inclusion in Russia and around the world," special Olympics President Mary Davis commented on Kazan's victory. "Sport knows no borders, and the holding of the World winter Special Olympics is a clear proof of this. The noble mission of the organizers fully reflects the main principles of Tatarstan — equal opportunities for everyone," President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov said.
In terms of scale, the upcoming tournament can be compared with the games of the CIS countries scheduled for September this year. 2.7 thousand participants from 105 countries are expected. The program will include snowshoeing, skiing, short track, cross-country skiing, snowboard, figure skating, and floorball (like field hockey, only in the gym). The existing infrastructure of Kazan is sufficient to host all competitions: some of the facilities, such as ice facilities, can be adapted. By the way, the prospect of short track and figure skating competitions can speed up the construction of the figure skating center on Gavrilova, where it was planned to develop both disciplines. A place was reserved for the object, but work has not started yet.
For people with disabilities, there are three major tournaments — the Paralympics, the Deaflympics, and the special Olympics. The first is held immediately after the main Olympics in the same city, it involves people with disabilities in physics and vision; the second is aimed at those with hearing disorders; the third involves athletes with intellectual disabilities. At the Paralympics, sports indicators are important, their participants are selected and trained as national team athletes, and they are expected to win medals and records. And in the special Olympics, the result is not in the foreground — this is the main feature of the tournament.
WHAT DID JOHN F. KENNEDY'S SISTER COME UP WITH
The special Olympics movement appeared in the United States in 1968. Her guide was Julis Kennedy-Shriver-the sister of John Kennedy and future mother-in-law of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Julis headed the Kennedy Foundation in support of citizens with neurotic and physiological disabilities.


At that time, the attitude to people with similar problems was far from ideal. Some religious teachings called cerebral palsy a way of punishing sinners by God, and parents massively rejected children who had developmental abnormalities after birth. In order for society to better treat people with mental problems and pay attention to the complexities of their life, Shriver decided to hold large-scale sports competitions similar to the Olympics. The idea was inspired by the nascent Paralympic movement in Europe. It was not possible to include athletes with neurotic disorders in the Paralympics due to the specifics of diseases and difficulties in communication.
It was then that Shriver met a physical education teacher from Chicago, Anna Buerke, who developed a system of physical exercises for people with intellectual disabilities. Together with her, Julis, with money from the Kennedy Foundation, founded the Special Olympics charity organization and held trial Games that same year. They had about 1000 participants, in two years — 3 thousand, and then-more and more. For almost 30 years, the special Olympics was held only in the United States and only in 1989 it was held outside the States, in South Korea.
The organizers still have strong American roots. The headquarters is located in Chicago, and among the venues of the Games, you can still often find the United States. Moreover, the American government covers approximately 10% of the movement's budget. In 2017 (the last year for which data was published), $150 million was spent on the special Olympics and the state provided $ 15.5 million. The rest is private donations. Us President Donald trump was going to completely cut the organization's funding in 2018-2020, but his budget plan was not approved by Congress.
NO WINNERS, RECORDS, OR MEDAL STANDINGS 
Special Olympics cooperates with the IOC, includes 172 participating countries and has 5 million athletes (254 thousand in Russia). In terms of overall coverage, it is ahead of the Paralympics, designed for a narrow stratum of pros. An important difference between the special Olympics and the Paralympics, which is why they can not be combined — is a different sports approach. More precisely, its absence. The organizers of the Games state that the competitions are held solely for the purpose of adapting people with intellectual disabilities and do not aim to identify the strongest.
Each sport has several divisions depending on the participants ' physical readiness and intellectual development. At the same time, each division should have no more than 8 people. Places on the podium — also 8. The top three receive medals, and the rest is also be awarded special ribbons. The special Olympics athlete's oath reads: "Let me win, but if I can't, then let me be bold in this attempt."
At such Games, there is no medal count, fixing the national identity and division of participants into teams — athletes represent only themselves. At the opening and closing ceremonies, delegations are shown signs with the name of their country written on them, but do not carry the flag. Instead of national anthems, the special Olympics anthem is played at the awards.
The Russian branch of the special Olympics was registered in 1999. In 2019, it was headed by Olga Slutsker, the founder of the world Class fitness club chain. The games in Russia are actively supported by model Natalia Vodianova, and the daughter of the first President of Russia, Tatyana Yumasheva, is also involved in the movement. Her son Gleb Dyachenko won a silver medal at the special Olympics in 2015 in the swimming discipline.
 "IT'S LIKE GOING TO MARS»                                     
Tatarstan has been involved in the movement since 2017. There are two organizations in the Republic that regulate the sports training of people with disabilities: the Federation aimed at sports results, and the special Olympics Department, which is registered as a public charity organization. Both structures are headed by Vice-rector of the Volga region Academy of sports and tourism Ilshat Fayzullin. "We have been working with people with disabilities in the Republic for a long time, "he told BUSINESS Online. — But until recently, the focus was on working with those who have physical disabilities, but such a minority — 70% remains for intellectual disabilities. But in recent years, we have formed a base for social inclusion (when people with disabilities are on an equal footing with others-ed.)."
In 2015, the Volga Academy opened the Department of adaptive physical education, which began to produce specialists to work with people with disabilities in physical or intellectual development. If at first the direction attracted 85 students, now — 350. This year, there are 69 budget places available for applicants.
The popularity of the direction is growing every year. "First, we have now begun to recognize the benefits of physical exercise in the rehabilitation process, - explains the reasons for the demand for adaptive physical education head of the Department Larisa Parfenova. — Secondly, with the development of medicine, the number of people with developmental disabilities has increased.: newborns who were lost before are now being saved. Also affects the environment, nutrition, and much more. We teach you how to work with people with disabilities. I would like to emphasize that we do not treat them, but help them recover through physical exercise."
On the basis of the University, and with the support of the Ministry of education of RT and RT Ministry of labour was requested to establish the office of the special Olympics. Republican athletes have been participating in international Games since 2006-2007. At first, they were students or graduates of a boarding school for children with disabilities in Mamadysh, but now the movement includes 2 thousand athletes. In 2018, the unified soccer team (this is when special athletes play on the same team as regular ones) even managed to win all-Russian competitions and get a ticket to the world games in Chicago. There, the team took 3rd place. "The guys have noticeably transformed," says Fayzullin. — How they left and how they came back! It's like they went to Mars."
WHO CAN BECOME A MEMBER
There is no need for a large sports portfolio to participate in the special Olympics. Absolutely everyone who meets the competition criteria can get to the Games, regardless of their sporting achievements. At the same time, thanks to the system of division into divisions depending on physical strength, the difference between the participants is not so noticeable.