Special Olympics
Guinness World Record, Health Screening, Glittering Closing Ceremony – Special Olympics Bharat lights up A'bad
The Special Olympics Bharat (SOB) lit up Ahmedabad over the last two days with a large-scale National Health Fest combined with a Guinness World Record attempt and a glittering closing ceremony.
Athletes who represented India at the 2019 Abu Dhabi Special Olympics (Abhijit Nair/TheBridge)
The Special Olympics Bharat (SOB) lit up Ahmedabad over the last two days with a large-scale National Health Fest combined with a Guinness World Record attempt and a glittering closing ceremony under the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav initiative by the Indian government.
National Health Fest
On the occasion of World Health Day, the SOB conducted a health fest for specially-abled athletes across the country. While the Karnavati University remained the main hub for the free health check-up for these athletes with close to 7500 intellectually disabled athletes getting screened in the campus, over 90,000 free health screenings were held all over the country in 75 cities.
The Karnavati University was abuzz with more than 1800 volunteers, where intellectually disabled children from across Gujarat were screened for any health or dental issues.
Such was the excitement around the health screening that, the number of people at the Karnavati University kept increasing with each passing minute.
"The past two years when the entire world was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, it is our specially-abled children who have suffered the most. They have been unable to study or play as usual and have been deprived of proper medical treatment. Our main aim through this event is to help them get back on track," said Mallika Nadda, the chairperson of Special Olympics Bharat on the occasion of the event.
Guinness and Asian Record
Alongside hosting the National Health Fest, the SOB also made its way into the Guinness Books of World Records and the Asia Book of Records.
While the World Record was achieved for "Most people running in a place simultaneously across multiple venues", SOB entered Asia Books of Records for "Maximum medical and sports professionals trained online for screening and training people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities."
Besides, the SOB was also recognised by the World Talent Organisation for "Most number of intellectually impaired people participating in fitness training program in a week at multiple venues."
Glittering Closing Ceremony
The event came to a close with a glittering closing ceremony held at the World's largest cricket ground – the Narendra Modi Stadium, Motera in Ahmedabad.
The closing ceremony saw the presence of dignitaries like the Governor of Gujarat Acharya Devvrat, the Chief Minister of the state Bhupendra Patel alongside a few cabinet ministers.
The event also saw Padma Shri and Olympic medallist Yogeshwar Dutt alongside fellow Commonwealth medallist wrestler Babita Phogat.
The closing ceremony saw words of encouragement for the country's intellectually disabled athletes from the dignitaries present. The event which had various folk dances from Gujarat on display drew to a close with the SOB chairperson, Mallika Nadda reading out a special letter for the athletes from the country's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
