Special Olympics Held in Vizag

More than 350 specially-abled students participated in Special Olympics held in Vizag. Here’s a news report on it.

Special Olympics Held in Vizag

More than 350 specially-abled students participated in Special Olympics organized by JCI Vizag. Vizag for the uninitiated is the port of Visakhapatnam.

The 18th edition of Special Olympics – A sports event for the specially-abled by Junior Chamber International Visakhapatnam (JCI Vizag) witnessed more than 350 children from 14 special schools across Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts.

The sports meet was declared open by the DRM of Waltair Division, Anup Kumar Satpathy (IRTS) who was the Chief Guest and President of GITAM University. M Sribharat who was the distinguished guest on the occasion. JC Jeevan Jyothi Volla (ZVP- Region B) was the Guest of Honour and MD of Ora Motors Krishnakanth was the special invitee for the inauguration of the sports meet organized at Diamond Jubilee Port Stadium, here on Sunday. All the dignitaries appreciated the cause for these special children and extended their support.

More than 60 categories of sports events for children were organized in the age groups of 8-12 years, 12-20 years and above 20 years. Children with visual and hearing impairments, physically handicapped and mentally retarded students participated with great zeal and enthusiasm. A few of the sports categories included 50m running, 100m running, shotput, Javelin throw, wheelchair race, disc throw, soft ball among the others. Breakfast, lunch and snacks were given to all the children, escorts, parents and coaches.

GVMC commissioner Dr G Lakshmisha was the Chief Guest for the valedictory function of Special Olympics, which witnessed amazing performances by the special children. The special invitees were the very inspiring specially-abled people from Vizag. Dev Prasad, a visually impaired person; Sai Padma, a polio survivor and Founder President of Global AID; B Pragnanand, food innovator and social entrepreneur;  Dilip Patro, Founder, The Ability people and Kavya Purnima, a young woman with late visual impairment were present on the occasion. Medals and participation certificates were given away to the winners and all the participants, respectively.

Stating that all children are special but some children are more special, the founder of Special Olympics, Prakash Kochar said, “The rolling shield in the name of my younger brother,  Prem Kochar, who lost his life in an accident is also given every year to the school which has done well in all the categories of events.”

Kochar further added, “Time and again, we have seen both men and women from India making a mark in the field of sports across the globe. We have also seen parasports gaining a lot of importance in India and the world. The need of the hour is to encourage interested children irrespective of their disabilities to take up sports and extend support to encourage them.”

A group of amateur radio operators (Dolphin Amateur Radio Repeater Club) was setup for Radio Communication in case of emergency services for children on ground. Band performance was by Kendriya Vidyalaya Waltair and also a few scouts from KV volunteered for the cause.

The food sponsor was Shri Sai Samsthan Charitable Trust.

President of JCI Vizag Jc S Venkatesh and Secretary Jc V Chaitanya and other JC members, past presidents were a part of this noble initiative.