World Leaders, United States Presidential Delegation, Sports Greats and Celebrity Guests to Participate in 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai, China

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A F SPECIAL OLYMPICS LOGO SPECIAL OLYMPICS LOGO Special Olympics Logo. (PRNewsFoto)[KG] BEIJING, CHINA 03/02/2004

    WASHINGTON DC, Sept. 28 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Today Special Olympics
 announced expected guests of the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games,
 including President George W. Bush's designated U.S. Presidential
 Delegation, who will attend the Opening Ceremonies on 2 October and will
 participate in this historic global event. The delegation will join heads
 of state HE President Olafur R. Grimsson of the Republic of Iceland and HE
 President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines.
     (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040302/LNTU017LOGO )
     The U.S. Presidential Delegation will be lead by The Honorable Margaret
 Spellings, Secretary of Education. Additional delegation members include:
     -- The Honorable Clark T. Randt, Jr., United States Ambassador to the
        People's Republic of China;
     -- The Honorable John H. Hager, Former Assistant Secretary of Education
        (Special Education and Rehabilitative Services);
     -- Mr. Ernie Banks, Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame;
     -- Dr. Lynn Fuchs, Professor of Special Education and Human Development,
        Vanderbilt University;
     -- Ms. Michelle Kwan, Figure Skating Champion and American Public
        Diplomacy Envoy;
     -- Mrs. Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Founder, Special Olympics;
     -- Dr. Timothy P. Shriver, Chairman of the Board, Special Olympics
     -- Ms. Anne Sweeney, Co-Chairman, Disney Media Networks and President,
        Disney-ABC Television Group
     -- Mrs. Jennifer Polk Wardlow, International Global Messenger and Special
        Olympics North Carolina athlete.
     Additional expected guests of the Special Olympics World Summer Games
 include: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria
 Shriver, Actress and Singer Vanessa Williams, Coca-Cola President & COO
 Muhtar Kent; Actor and World Games spokesperson Colin Farrell, NBA great
 Yao Ming, composer and performer Yo Yo Ma; Actress and Special Olympics
 Global Ambassador Zhang Ziyi, Olympic Gold Medalists Edwin Moses, Bart
 Conner and Scott Hamilton, social activist Bianca Jagger and Anne Finucane,
 Bank of America Chief Marketing Officer and President for the Northeast.
 Also expected are First Ladies from Europe and South America and Ministers
 from every continent.
     Special Olympics World Summer Games
     From 2-11 October, Shanghai will welcome nearly 7,500 Special Olympics
 athletes representing 165 countries to its city when it hosts the 2007
 Special Olympics World Summer Games. The world's most inspiring athletes
 will compete in 25 different Olympic-type sports at many of Shanghai's
 world-renowned venues. The 12th Special Olympics World Summer Games will be
 the first major multi-sport competition to take place in China with the
 2008 Olympics and Paralympics Games following the next summer in Beijing.
     "The upcoming Special Olympics World Summer Games to be held in
 Shanghai will not only be a spectacular event, but a historic one offering
 the Movement a world stage to showcase the abilities and accomplishments of
 people with intellectual disabilities, and fostering a new global vision of
 acceptance," said Special Olympics Chairman and CEO Timothy Shriver.
     In addition to competitions, the World Games will feature a series of
 events aimed at transforming communities and the lives of the 190 million
 people worldwide with intellectual disabilities by promoting understanding,
 acceptance and inclusion. Among the highlights are: a one-day Global Policy
 Summit on the Health and Well-being of People with Intellectual
 Disabilities, a Global Youth Summit, a forum for representative young
 people to interact with their peers across the globe and share ideas for
 involving youth in the Special Olympics movement; the Special Olympics
 Healthy Athletes(R) initiative, in which athletes receive free health
 assessments and services; and a symposium to bring awareness and discussion
 of issues relevant to people with intellectual disabilities.
     Additional information about the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer
 Games and competition results are available on the Special Olympics website
 at http://www.specialolympics.org .
     Special Olympics is an international non-profit organization dedicated
 to empowering individuals with intellectual disabilities to become
 physically fit, productive and respected members of society through sports
 training and competition. Founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver,
 Special Olympics provides year-round sports training and competition to 2.5
 million adults and children with intellectual disabilities across 165
 countries. The Special Olympics Movement offers one of the world's greatest
 platforms for acceptance and inclusion for all people--regardless of race,
 religion, ethnicity or cultural differences. Corporate sponsors of Special
 Olympics include: adidas, Bank of America, The Coca-Cola Company, DHL,
 Mattel, Inc. and Mattel Children's Foundation, Starwood Hotels & Resorts
 Worldwide, Find out how you can become involved at
 http://www.specialolympics.org .
 
 

SOURCE Special Olympics