Special Olympics Spreads Throughout NIS
Get the latest information on Special Olympics International in the US-NIS Organizations section of the Website.
Special Olympics NIS Affiliates
Special Olympics International (SOI) was founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver to support the creation and expansion of sports programs for individuals with mental retardation by providing year-round training and competition opportunities. The organization estimates that 156 million people, or 3% of the world's population, have mental retardation, and that about 87% of this number are affected with mild retardation.
The Special Olympics oath is, "Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt." As an international movement, SOI works toward acceptance and respect for people with mental retardation in over 100 countries. In the words of SOI Chairman and CEO Sargent Shriver, "[Special Olympics] may help change the social and spiritual atmosphere of the world. Skill, courage, sharing and joy is our slogan and we recommend it to everyone . . ."
Soviet Special Olympics was established in 1989 and during its first two years trained more than 400 coaches from throughout the Soviet Union. Costs for the training seminars were covered entirely by proceeds from the sale of "A Very Special Christmas," a record created through donated services of singers, musicians, and producers.
In July 1992 Special Olympics-Eurasia was legally recognized by 12 former Soviet republics. Later that year 125 athletes participated in the first Eurasian Winter Special Olympic Games in Petrozavodsk, Russia. In 1993 SO-Eurasia involved more than 60,000 children and adults with mental retardation in its programs and sent a 156-member delegation to the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Austria. In 1993 and 1994 SO-Eurasia together with SOI hosted four interna-tional seminars for over 400 participants on topics such as "Medical, Diagnostic and Psychological Aspects of Mental Retardation" and "Special Olympics Programs for Families and Volunteers."
SOI has offices throughout the former Soviet Union. They offer Special Olympics Training Schools and publish resources. These include newsletters, "Fact Sheets," other educational materials on mental retardation and the Special Olympics movement, and Official Sports Rules. Anyone interested in volunteering in the NIS is encouraged to contact SOI and SO-Eurasia.
For information on SOI, contact:
- Gregory S. Rehkopf, Director, Eastern European and Eurasian Programs
Special Olympics International
1350 New York Ave., NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: (202) 628-5431
Fax: (202) 628-0068
Telex: 6502841739MCI
- Ms. Natalia Sladkova, Executive Director
Special Olympics Eurasia
Luznetskaya naberezhnaia 8
119781 Moscow, Russia
Tel: (7-095) 201-1953
Fax: (7-095) 201-1429
Other NIS affiliate offices:
- Special Olympics Armenia
Mr. Gavrush Mnatsakanyan, Chairman
Kuznetsov Street 12
375078 Yerevan, Armenia
Tel: (7-885) 255-2495
Fax: (7-885) 252-7022
- Special Olympics Azerbaijan
Mr. Shahin Aliev, Chairman
Chjoban-zade Street 1
370060 Baku, Azerbaijan
Tel: (7-8922) 221-6234
- Special Olympics Belarus
Mr. Valentin Shukh, Chairman
Sovietskaia Street 9
220626 Minsk, Belarus
Tel: (7-017) 220-1186
Fax: (7-017) 220-8483
- Special Olympics Georgia
Mr. Teimuraz Mikiashvili, Chairman
Chavchavadze Avenue 49a
380071 Tbilisi, Georgia
Tel: (7-883) 266-3349
- Special Olympics Kazakhastan
Ms. Olga Bakhareva, Executive Director
Prospekt Lenina 38, Room 906
480100 Almaty, Kazakhstan
Tel: (7-327) 262-3524
Fax: (7-327) 263-1207
- Special Olympics Kyrgyzstan
Ms. Victoria Gorkina, Executive Director
Krasnooktyabrskaya 258
720088 Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Tel: (7-331) 222-8557
Fax: (7-331) 222-8604
- Special Olympics Moscow
Mr. Anatolii Grigoriev, Chairman
Markhlevsky Street 18
101100 Moscow, Russia
Tel: (7-095) 924-1949
- Special Olympics Moldova
Mr. Nikolai Barbieru, Chairman
Pushkin Street 26
277012 Chisinau, Moldova
Tel: (7-042) 222-2678
- Special Olympics Tajikistan
Ms. Dilbar Sharipova, Chairman
Chekov Street 13a
734055 Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Tel: (7-377) 222-4748
- Special Olympics Turkmenistan
Mr. Aman A. Altiev, Executive Director
32 Belinskaya Street
744001 Ashkabad, Turkmenistan
Tel: (7-363) 225-2063
Fax: (7-363) 222-5379
- Special Olympics Ukraine
Ms. Victoria Shelkovnikova, Executive Director
Kuibyshev Street 42
252023 Kiev, Ukraine
Tel: (7-044) 274-7418
Fax: (7-044) 220-1294
- Special Olympics Uzbekistan
Mr. Sergei Kiryushkin, Executive Director
Massiv Chilanzar, Block B14
Building 2, Apartment 1
700173 Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Tel: (7-371) 220-1253
Fax: (7-371) 220-1294
This article is from the December 1994 issue of
Civil Society ... East and West
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The URL for this page is: http://solar.rtd.utk.edu/~ccsi/csew/94-12/soi-nis.html
Last updated: June 7 1996
