Shanghai, China
“The mission of the Special Olympic Games is to let people with intellectual disabilities receive good sports training and bring their potentiality into full play through displaying the Special Olympic spirit of “Let me win, But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.” It also can make every one of the SO Athletes become a hero and a winner, enjoy challenge and joy brought by the Games, and become a part of the society.” Zou Longfei, Director of Gymnastics Competition
The Gymnastics competition was held at Shanghai International Gymnastics Center.
Judges were from numerous countries, including China, USA, Italy, Japan, Great Britain, Poland, Holland, El Salvador, and Denmark. Gymnasts and their coaches came from the following areas: Asia Pacific, East Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East & North America.
84 Rhythmic Gymnasts participated in levels I through IV in the following events- All Around, Ball, Floor Exercise, Hoop, Ribbon, and Rope.
86 Artistic Women Gymnasts competed in levels I through IV in the following events- Vault, Uneven Bars, Balance Beam, Floor Exercise and All Around. There were 55 level I, 20 level II, 7 level III, and 4 level IV female gymnasts.
79 Artistic Male Gymnasts competed in levels I through IV in the following events- Floor Exercise, High bar, Parallel Bars, Pommel Horse, Rings, Vault, and All Around. There were 51 level I, 20 level II, 3 level III, & 5 level IV male gymnasts.
Cindy Bickman was the Technical Delegate for Rhythmic Gymnastics, John Burkel was the TD for Artistic Gymnastics, with Kate Hickie was the TD Emeritus and a consultant. Mr. Wang was Chief of Competition and Mr. Shao was Director of Judges.
On Tuesday, 10/2 there was podium training for artistic & rhythmic gymnastics.
Rhythmic Preliminary competition was on Oct 3 & 4. Artistic Preliminaries were on Oct. 6 and 7. Rhythmic Finals were on Mon, Oct. 8. Artistic Finals were on Oct. 8 and 9. Clinics and training in the warmup areas occurred throughout the games. Wed, Oct 10, in the evening was the Gymnastic Show open for all. On Thursday, Oct 11 were artistic clinics (rule changes) and rhythmic clinic (new routines).