176 Indian athletes are at the Olympics, right now.
Surprised?
That's because these aren't your mainstream Olympics that come by every four years. These are the Special Olympics World Games, held for people with intellectual disabilities (an IQ of 70 or lower). The 15th edition of the Games starts on June 17, in Berlin and India are sending a massive squad (a 255-strong contingent, including 176 special athletes, 57 coaches and 22 unified partners).
It's not a televised event in India and these Olympics are nowhere near as high-profile as the mainstream one, but it doesn't matter to the participants. For them, it's the 'being there' that is a victory itself.
This is the story of these inimitable champions.
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Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, famously said that "the important thing is not to win, but to take part." Nowhere does this Olympic spirit get showcased quite as much as the Special Olympics.
"They have no fear of winning or losing. No fear of defeat at all," says Raj Kumar Pal, from Solan, Himachal Pradesh, who is the head coach of the national basketball team going to Berlin. "But you should see their smiles when they are playing. It's a true, inner happiness which makes us [coaches] so very happy. We will always motivate and impart skills with the aim of winning, but that's not the most important thing. It's the taking part - imagine if a child was sitting outside and watching others play. They would feel so anxious, 'why am I not getting a chance to play.' They find great meaning in just playing."
Ravinder Saini, a coach at the Army Public School, Delhi, agrees. "They feel that society is distancing itself from them, and that obviously makes them feel bad. But when they play, and they enjoy themselves, uffff." You can almost see the smile. "When they feel that you (as a coach) have understood them, when they feel included... there's no greater happiness in the world."
"The people who bullied my son now clap for him." Sujatha Nagalli
Bengaluru-based Anil Nagalli remembers organisers laughing at him when he wanted his son, Aryan, to be included in mainstream roller-skating competitions. Aryan was scared too - having been asked to change schools due to his 'underperformance in studies' - he didn't have the confidence to mingle with 'mainstream' athletes. Anil did what he felt had to be done, took up Aryan's coaching, opened a skating school for special needs children and now the father-son duo are in Berlin. The Roller-skating Federation of India, meanwhile, has started a category for athletes with special needs. "Sports has given [Aryan] confidence and a sense of purpose," says his mother, Sujatha. "He felt useless earlier. Every child has an ability which is lying dormant, waiting to be explored... The people who bullied my son now clap for him." If that isn't a win...
Ankush Saha, the golfer, is married. His wife is also on the spectrum, but at the higher end and is a special needs educator. Ankush communicates confidently and clearly and shows no hesitation, or fear, of interaction. Social inclusion at a level his father dreamt of when getting him started in sports.
The best examples of de Coubertin's message, though, came from two athletes who aren't even going to the World Games.
Ramu, from Bengaluru, had won a handball silver in the 2015 Games, and is still one of the sports' best exponents in the country. He didn't go for trials this time, though... "let everyone get a chance," he says. "I've won many medals, but now it's okay." He now works for a housekeeping company in the city and travels to-and-fro by himself. His father doesn't know quite how to express his joy - it's the kind of freedom he never thought his son could have when growing up.
Another Bengaluru athlete, Santosh Kumar, used to run the 3000m - and went to the Special Olympics in 2015. After the COVID-19 pandemic enforced lockdown, though, he's lost touch with it. He was at the send-off ceremony for the athletes from Karnataka last fortnight, showing his support and soaking in the all-round positivity. His father, Ravindra Kumar, jokes that Santosh has become fat and lazy now. Santosh giggles along before turning to me and saying, "I want to get back to the track and get fitter. Then I can maybe get a job and start looking after [his parents]. It's about time, eh?" His smile shines through even on a bright Bengaluru morning.
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What's the talent-spotting process for special-needs athletes? There's no fixed formula or pattern, it depends almost from athlete to athlete - and, importantly, coach to coach.
"Earlier, they didn't recognise that these are special children, not 'mad'... but now awareness is a lot better. Now parents have a feeling that my child could also go to the Olympics!" Raj Kumar Pal
A physical education teacher by profession, the first child with special needs that Pal had bonded with had been a neighbour. "I noticed that [the boy] was treated poorly by his own parents. You could see that he wanted to come out, play with the other kids in the area, but the parents would keep him at home thinking people would think he's mad." Pal couldn't quite understand this, so he started talking to the boy, taking him to the local ground "as timepass", and then he slowly started playing. "We started with Bocce, and he improved every day," he says. "If we missed even one day, say in case I was out of town, he would get very agitated." He needed that release, that schedule, says Pal.
Pal takes the example of Avanish Kondal, one of his best players. Also from Himachal, Avanish was studying at the Ganapathy Educational Society (where he cleared his +2 exam) when Pal took him for basketball coaching. He would travel 8kms by himself (on cycle or in a bus) to go train with Pal: missing a session wasn't an option for Avanish.
Saini speaks about Ankush Kumar, the national team's handball goalkeeper. "In the beginning, it was very tough. Nobody was aware of inclusive education and the needs of special children... so he declined rapidly. His parents didn't accept this - that their child had special needs."
Ankush, though, connected with Saini and together the two worked on his game and his ability to mingle with others. Soon, he was representing the school at a state level, in what Saini calls the "normal team". Now, Ankush's father - a retired army man - is his biggest cheerleader.
176 Indian athletes are at the Olympics, right now. Surprised? That's because these aren't your mainstream Olympics. These are the Special Olympics World Games - held for people with intellectual disabilities (an IQ of 70 or lower). The 15th edition begins in Berlin on June 17. pic.twitter.com/KnXP5zU2UL
- ESPN India (@ESPNIndia) June 16, 2023
"The problem," says Saini, "was that there was no awareness. And Ankush struggled so much because of that." Ankush is hearing-and-speech-impaired, and communication was a major issue. Saini learnt a bit of basic sign language, and encouraged communication via writing. "Now we understand each other just by looking at each other." Listening to the athlete is key, he says.
One parent who did listen to their child was Lt. Col. (retd.) Bipra Saha. His son, Ankush, has represented India at the past two Special Olympics World Games as a golfer... the coach? Saha himself. Having taken a voluntary retirement from the Indian army a while back, he did a golf management course in Scotland and pestered several mainstream coaches for guidance. "The issue was that Ankush was not remembering what his instructors were telling him," says Saha. They couldn't quite adapt their coaching methods to communicate effectively so Saha took it upon himself to do it. He also runs marathons with his son (including, recently, the Berlin marathon).
Parental guidance, and even presence is not always a given though. Henna, a member of the women's handball team was raised at a charitable home in West Bengal... she had been found lost on the road by police officers. Jeyaseela, a cyclist from Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, had been sent to a special school by her siblings after the passing away of their parent - because they could not take care of her.
Cyril Lopes and his friends run a special needs school (Daya Nilaya) in Tumka, Karnataka. Two of his students - Vignesh Naik (table tennis) and Eramma (lawn tennis) - are going with him to the Games. He says most students in the school come from extremely tough financial backgrounds, with their parents not really knowing how to help their child and not having access to resources that are key to doing anything about it. There are orphans too. Quite a few, like Eramma and Vignesh, are hearing-and-speech impaired. Cyril hopes his school, of around 50 children, is helping somewhat.
"It may be easier to teach a 'normal' student [initially]," says Pal. "But if a special child takes to you, bonds with you, they will remain disciplined and committed to our guidance. The important thing is bonding - understanding the nature of the child."
Pal says the attachment he feels with his special needs athletes is like no other. He recounts a tale from 2014, when he took the Himachal Pradesh basketball team to the Special Games Nationals in Pondicherry. They'd won silver and flew back to Delhi - where one of his athletes, Suresh, saw his parents and instead of running to them, came back running to the coach, crying, and saying he wanted to go with him. "We're family, you know" says Pal, the emotion evident in his voice.
"We have to adapt to situations," says Saini. He has 50 special needs children learning from him at his school and he stresses the need to be constantly aware of their behaviour, their needs, their mood, and their health - and constantly educate their parents. "Any small changes, and we discuss it immediately," he says.
For Cyril, who has a Masters in special education, sport is key. "It's a continuous process. You practice and you'll become good at [whatever it is you want to do]. It's all about conditioning. Sport not only makes them feel included, it also keeps their mind occupied." In essence, it helps push themselves to their limits -- and that's what keeps them motivated.
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Pal recollects that back in 2008, when he started off, parents (like his neighbours) would barely let their special needs children out of their house. "They didn't recognise that these are special children, not 'mad'... but now awareness is a lot better," he says. "Now parents have a feeling that my child could also go to the Olympics!"
It's a slow process, but a large part of that is down to the persistence of Special Olympic Bharat. The Indian wing of Special Olympics, it was started in 1988 before becoming a National Sporting Federation (NSF) under the union sports ministry in 2001.
They operate in a very bottom-up manner... starting at the block level, building up to district-state-national. They tie up with special needs schools, charities, and NGOs across the country, spread awareness of the Olympics programme and bat for inclusive education. They also depend on coaches to reach athletes who might be outside their formal network.
Selection for the national teams that go to the World Games happen as they would for any other sport in the country - district level trials, followed state and then anywhere between two and four national camps.
We are here at the preparatory camp for the @SOWG_Berlin2023 ! ��
As our players gear up for the games and sharpen their skillset, we wish them nothing but the best! ��
Jeetenge Hum, Hum Mei Hai Dum! ��#BolBharat #SpecialOlympics pic.twitter.com/FT5ohNBHGG
- Special Olympics Bharat (@SOlympicsBharat) June 10, 2023
Raman Rekhi, Joint National Director of Special Olympics Bharat, says sports is just one pillar of their mission: health and education are the others.
They have a structured programme for medical screenings of all athletes under their umbrella - whether as standalone events or as part of camps. "We train doctors as well," she says, "to help their comfort level and understanding of [people with] intellectual disabilities."
"We also try and create multiple opportunities for inclusive engagement - for youth with and without intellectual disabilities to engage on the sports field... and beyond," she says. "We believe in nurturing an inclusive generation." And what better way to do it than from a sports field? "The attitude of inclusion grows naturally," she says.
In this spirit, the World Games features unified sports (where both intellectually disabled and otherwise athletes compete together in one team)... and India will be sending unified teams for football, golf, handball, beach volleyball and volleyball.
The Olympic spirit has rarely shone brighter.