The 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games officially begins on July 25 and ends on August 2, 2015. To mark the start of this special international sporting event, Google released an animated Google Doodle featuring a colorful track with 6 athletes representing different sports competitions. The sporting track used in the doodle is actually no ordinary one as it represents the so-called “circle of inclusion”, representing “acceptance of all people with intellectual disabilities”.
At the top middle part of the Google Doodle is the site’s name but there is no reference to the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games except for the athletes in the field. Users can find more information about the Special Olympics upon clicking the logo.
Photo credit: Google
2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games
Athletes with intellectual disabilities are the ones who participate in the Special Olympics World Games. As with the Paralympics and the Olympics, the Special Olympics is done every two years and alternates the Summer and Winter Games.
Unlike the Olympics, however, participants in the Special Olympics have to be categorized into special matches, according to their age and ability. The reason for this is that the athletes have a wide range of intellectual disabilities, ranging from people with limited physical ability to the gifted world-class competitors.
According to Wikipedia, there are a total of 32 Olympic-style summer or winter sports where competitors of the Special Olympics can join; however, the final number of sporting events might differ depending on a number of factors.
This year marks the 47th year since the Special Olympics was founded (in 1968) in Chicago, Illinois, US. There will be 25 sports events this year, expecting to draw as many as 7,000 world-class athletes from 177 countries, according to the Google Doodle page.
Google Doodles
From time to time, you might notice changes in the picture used on Google’s homepage. These are called Google Doodles.
It was in 1998 that the first Google Doodle was posted. It was done in honor of the Burning Man Festival. Though these doodles were not animated at first, animated doodles became a trend after the first one honoring Sir Isaac Newton was posted in January 2010.
More complicated doodles would later appear, including interactive ones which began with a standard Pac-Man game.
Google doodles are temporary, often lasting just 24 hours (or less, as in the case of controversial ones).