ShareKUWAIT: Director of Kuwait National Special Olympics Rihab Buresli said the Kuwait National Team is ready for participation in the 16th World Summer Special Olympics Games in Berlin - from June 12th until the 26th. Buresli said during a press conference at the Public Authority for Sport that the goal of the games (in which more than 7,000 athletes from 170 countries compete) is to integrate the disabled with their healthy peers in hopes of promoting the inclusion aspect and participation in various daily activities.
She said the participating athletes went through several programs, most notably medical check-ups, to make sure they were fit to compete. She added that a special training program for each game was prepared, and it included training camps in and outside Kuwait for all games in order to prepare the teams and be ready. Buresli said the participation of Kuwait in the Special Olympics is the second after the games that were held in Abu Dhabi in 2019, during which they had outstanding results.
Meanwhile, PAS Deputy Director General for Competitive Sport Sector Bashar Abdallah said the authority is keen on removing obstacles that disabled sport faces, and this is at the instructions of the political leadership in the country. He said that the support and encouragement of the authority for the Kuwait Special Olympics is keen on removing obstacles that the disabled sport faces, and this is at the instructions of the political leadership in the country.
He said that the support and encouragement of the authority for the Kuwait Special Olympics to participate in the world games is within the strategy of the information and culture minister, state minister for youth affairs Abdelrahman Al-Mutairi. Abdallah pointed to the positive effect of various sports in breaking the fear barrier in this group of athletes, explaining its importance in developing skills and improving them to represent the country abroad. Chairwoman of Special Olympics Hanas Al-Zawawi said the intensive preparations by Kuwait’s team of mentally disabled people lasted 4 months of training in order to sharpen skills and have the best achievements during the games.
She said Kuwait’s team was formed in cooperation with schools, establishments, clubs, and concerned health clubs that are concerned with their affairs after passing contests and various training courses, adding that those efforts resulted in a team ready health-wise and sports-wise to participate. She said there will be 60 persons participating in the games, 23 of mental disability, 3 healthy persons in addition to 33 persons who include the administrative and technical delegation along with a media team from information ministry and Kuna and a medical team from the health ministry. Official spokeswoman for MENA region Mariam Theyab, who is disabled, appreciated the participation of her colleagues in a world games event that have many sports. - KUNA
