The 2011 Summer Special Olympics kicked off on Saturday with the opening ceremony at the Panathenian Stadium in central Athens, the original venue of the 1896 Olympic Games.
The 13th edition of the Special Games, one of the biggest sporting events in the world this year, will bring 7,000 athletes from 180 countries together for 10 days of games from June 25 until July 4.
Athletes will compete in 22 different competitions including swimming, tennis, volleyball and badminton.
Spectators at the 45,000-seat stadium in central Athens watched the traditional procession of delegates walk into the marble stadium and later danced to the beat of legendary soul singer Stevie Wonder, one of the many performers at the opening ceremony.
Athletes will also be joined by 2,500 coaches and 40,000 family members, while 25,000 volunteers will assist them.
Held every two years, the Special Olympics is the world’s largest sports organisation for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
The first Special Olympics Summer Games were held at Soldier Field in Chicago in 1968, where more than 1,000 athletes from across the United States and Canada participated.
The founder of Special Olympics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who was a sister of the late US president John F Kennedy, died in 2009.
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