Special Olympics: What does inclusivity in sport really look like?
- kamcavanagh1
- Apr 19, 2025
- 6 min read
The sporting ecosystem in 2025 is more inclusive than ever, but have you ever wondered what inclusivity in sport really looks like?
There is one organisation, in particular, standing above the rest when it comes to promoting inclusion through sport.
The Special Olympics was founded in the USA in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister of former American president John F. Kennedy.
She believed that those with intellectual disabilities could live happy lives and thus launched the organisation with the hope of changing societal attitudes.
Not to be confused with the Paralympics, the Special Olympics covers athletes with an IQ of below 70-75 and/or low adaptive skills that impact at least one activity of daily living.
Ten years later, the initiative branched out to Great Britain under Special Olympics GB and has been helping to change lives ever since.
Tom Rawlings, marketing and communications lead for Special Olympics GB, discussed their mission.
He said: “Why we do it is [because] a lot of people with intellectual or learning disabilities have come through a lot of hardships in their lives.
“‘They've been bullied at school’, is an often case that we deal with, not allowed to participate in mainstream clubs - they’ve been shut out of those.
“A lot of hardships they've been shown throughout their opportunities, but sport can be the catalyst to change the world, and that's very much my belief is [that] sport can fix so many problems, from a health, a wellbeing, but also a confidence perspective.
“So, very much our journey is [that] a medal means a huge amount to every athlete.
“But beyond that, I suppose our mission is, what can that medal do, or what can that sport do? Can it enable somebody to live a healthier, active lifestyle?
“It can help them develop new skill sets. It can help them go on to jobs, helping them live independently.
“I mean, ideally, we would live in a world where there doesn't have to be an organisation, a charity like Special Olympics GB. But unfortunately, society lends itself - we have to be there because of society.
“There is a record of only 6% of people with an intellectual disability in this country [that] actually work. And that's not good enough.
“Society has got to be better than that, with the right tools and support, these people can achieve so much.”
The impact of athlete storytelling
Often in sports, the athletic narrative comes before the personal narrative. It is what is happening on the pitch or inside the ring as opposed to the stories that lead those athletes to the pitch or the ring in the first place.
When Rawlings joined Special Olympics GB in 2022, he felt that telling these personal stories was where the organisation could really make a difference.
He said: “When I came in, I felt that Special Olympics was telling, quite often, stories of staff and featuring staff a bit too prominently, and it was a difficult period because we hadn't long been out of lockdown.
“So, the biggest impact we can make is by telling athletes stories - and when I speak to the families of those athletes, it's like you really need to sort of highlight how difficult it's been at times because, without that sort of ability to articulate how difficult it's been, you can't highlight the journey.
“So, if an athlete has been bullied, I want to know about it. If they've been excluded from mainstream sports, we need to know about it because it just shows the challenges that the people have overcome. Because people can't really relate to how difficult it's been unless they really know and tell it.
“So, I always try and get that information out of sort of the families and the athletes where you can do because it just shows that journey. But athlete storytelling is effectively where I try and spend most of my time because that's where I think we can make the most impact and awareness of what Special Olympics GB does.
“I mean, one of my favourite stories I've worked on - Lloyd Martin, who, last year, became the youngest person with Down Syndrome to run a marathon and break Guinness World Records, seeing his life change.
“Working with an athlete who I got to know quite well when I went out to Berlin in 2023 for the World Summer Games.
“I mean, he was previously really reclusive, didn't really go out of his home, played computer games.
“He started playing football, developed through the Special Olympics pathway. Went to a World Games. Didn't want to go to the opening ceremony because of his anxiety, scored four goals in a quarter-final, got confidence, went to a closing ceremony.
“He said, ‘I want to start working when I get back’ and he's got a job. So it's, yeah, it just shows what sport does, really and it's heartwarming to tell those stories on the biggest stage.
Why is sport such a good platform for raising awareness?
Sport is a huge public platform, and it can be the platform that is needed to change social issues, break societal norms, and ultimately change the world.
“I mean sport, why it makes such a difference is the time and the focus it provides.
“I mean, I've always been interested myself in sport from an early age, and I've never been able to compete at any great levels, really, apart from Hertfordshire Schoolboys Cricket, but the fulfilment that you get from it.
“And I suppose when you have something regular in your diary, in your calendar, that you could focus on, it makes such a big difference.
“I mean, you could translate this to multiple industries, for example, in inner cities where you've got gang problems and things like that.
“It's not relevant to Special Olympics GB but trusts and foundations of a lot of professional sporting clubs, that's what they do. Rather than people being associated in gangs, it's like, well, no, just get them together playing football.
“I mean, there's a bigger story, one of the most famous stories of history, comes from unifying people through sport.
“When, on Christmas Day, in the First World War, the Germans and the English soldiers put down their guns and had a game of football on Christmas Day to take a break from it.
“So, it's a unifying thing where so many people can come to come together.
“You've obviously got the health benefits that come from it, the teamwork and sport can be a great leveller as well.
“For example, one of our swimming athletes who lives in Dundee - Taylor. I mean, she competes at a very strong level against mainstream swimmers from all over Scotland, and they don't recognise her intellectual disability that she's got, that's where sport is that leveller.
“But just bringing people together, with Special Olympics GB, we are that safe space.
“So, the sessions that our clubs run around the country, they are for people with intellectual disabilities, that safe space where they can come together, enjoy their sport and feel fulfilled from it and gain confidence from it because if a lot of the people we work with without these opportunities, they would have quite, quite lonely lives, whereas we bring people together.”
What does the future hold for Special Olympics GB?
Recently, the World Winter Games was hosted in Turin, Italy.
With the Games travelling across the globe, the future for the Great British branch of the Special Olympics also looks bright.
“We are hoping, we have ambitions to hold a World Summer Games in the United Kingdom - 2031.
“We've announced our intention that we would like to do that, and that isn't really a case of just having something for the profile and prestige of bringing another sporting event to the United Kingdom.
“It is more about how we can change sort of lives and societies giving more prominence to people with intellectual disabilities, of the challenges they face, what the sporting journey enables them to do, really showcasing these people at an elevated platform, and that's what hosting a World Summer Games would do.
“In Berlin, in Germany, there was 7000 athletes from around the world that came across that they shut down the centre of Berlin, in parts, to host the world cycling competition there. It's a huge event.
“And if we could have the opportunity to deliver something similar, we could, we could change so much more.
You can watch the full interview with Tom Rawlings below:
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