The 2022 Special Olympics World Winter Games (russian: Всемирные зимние игры Специальной Олимпиады 2022 г.) were a cancelled international
multi-sport event
A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of interna ...
for athletes with
intellectual disabilities
Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability in the United Kingdom and formerly mental retardation,Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010). is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by signifi ...
planned to be held in
Kazan
Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzan is the capital city, capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and t ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
on January 21–27. They would have been the 12th edition of the
Special Olympics World Winter Games to be held by the Special Olympics International.
Host selection
The Games were originally planned to be held in
Åre
Åre () is a locality and one of the leading Scandinavian ski resorts situated in Åre Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 3,200 inhabitants in 2018. It is, however, not the seat of the municipality, which is Järpen. 25% of the local eco ...
and
Östersund
Östersund (; sma, Staare) is an urban area (city) in Jämtland in the middle of Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth-largest lake, Storsjön, ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
in 2021. However, on December 20, 2019, the
Swedish Paralympic Committee
The Swedish Parasport Federation and Swedish Paralympic Committee ( sv, Svenska Parasportförbundet och Sveriges Paralympiska Kommitté), is the umbrella organization for parasport in Sweden. It was formerly known as the Swedish Sports Organizati ...
announced that they would cancel their plans on conducting the Games there due to insufficient funds to organize the event. On June 29, 2020, it was announced that
Kazan
Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzan is the capital city, capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and t ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
would host the 12th Special Olympics World Winter Games in 2022.
Postponement and cancellation
The Games would have been held between January 22–28, 2022 but was postponed to January 2023 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. Following the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. A ...
, the Special Olympics International decided to cancel the event due to logistical and athlete safety issues.
Sports
A total of seven sports at five different venues were planned to be competed on the 2022 Special Olympics:
*
*
*
*
*
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Venues
Five venues were planned to be used for the 2022 Special Olympics:
References
External links
Official website
{{Special Olympics
Special Olympics
Special Olympics World Winter Games
Sports events postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Multi-sport events cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Sports events affected by the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine