--- title: Special Olympics History: See Photos from First in 1968 description: The first Special Olympics kicked off on July 20, 1968 canonical: https://time.com/3955714/see-photos-from-the-first-special-olympics/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-20T12:00:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:50:38.292Z article:section: History og:title: See Photos From the First Special Olympics og:description: The first Special Olympics kicked off on July 20, 1968 og:url: https://time.com/3955714/see-photos-from-the-first-special-olympics/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ac2e379fe2bc39a/69885b472dce013c449e4aa5/150716-special-olympics-04.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 1968 Special Olympics og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See Photos From the First Special Olympics twitter:description: The first Special Olympics kicked off on July 20, 1968 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ac2e379fe2bc39a/69885b472dce013c449e4aa5/150716-special-olympics-04.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See Photos From the First Special Olympics by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Jul 20, 2015 12:00 PM UTC  For the first time in history, people with intellectual disabilities were placed on a podium and publicly rewarded in recognition of their athletic abilities. For the first time in history, people with intellectual disabilities were placed on a podium and publicly rewarded in recognition of their athletic abilities.courtesy Special Olympics by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/) and [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) Jul 20, 2015 12:00 PM UTC It was on this day, July 20, in 1968, that the first International Special Olympics Summer Games were held in Chicago. The event, conceived by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, had been years in the making. As TIME explained in Shriver’s 2009 [obituary](http://time.com/vault/issue/2009-08-24/page/22/): --- > “” --- The first Special Olympics hosted 1,000 athletes from the U.S. and Canada. In the years that followed, the event achieved greater recognition from the Olympic Committee and from athletes and advocates around the world, and it expanded to include winter events as well. By 2006, by the sponsoring organization’s [official count](http://www.specialolympics.org/history.aspx), there were 2.5 million participating Special Olympics athletes worldwide. **_Read a 1987 report from the Special Olympics, here in the TIME Vault:_** [Heroism, Hugs and Laughter](http://time.com/vault/issue/1987-08-17/page/68/)  Eunice Kennedy Shriver looks over Soldier Field on July 20, 1968, as the debut Special Olympics Games get underway. courtesy Special Olympics  Flanked by political and community leaders of Chicago including Mayor Richard Daley, Eunice Kennedy Shriver declares the first Special Olympics Games open. courtesy Special Olympics  The 1968 games included track and field, swimming and diving, and a variety of other sports, setting the stage for the Special Olympics World Games to come in later years. courtesy Special Olympics  For the first time in history, people with intellectual disabilities were placed on a podium and publicly rewarded in recognition of their athletic abilities. courtesy Special Olympics ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3955714/see-photos-from-the-first-special-olympics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3955714/see-photos-from-the-first-special-olympics/"},"headline":"See Photos From the First Special Olympics","datePublished":"2015-07-20T12:00:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:50:38.292Z","description":"The first Special Olympics kicked off on July 20, 1968","url":"https://time.com/3955714/see-photos-from-the-first-special-olympics/","keywords":["Sports topic","photography","kennedy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ac2e379fe2bc39a/69885b472dce013c449e4aa5/150716-special-olympics-04.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Liz Ronk","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ac2e379fe2bc39a/69885b472dce013c449e4aa5/150716-special-olympics-04.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"1968 Special Olympics","caption":"1968 Special Olympics","creditText":"courtesy Special Olympics","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3955714/see-photos-from-the-first-special-olympics/","name":"See Photos From the First Special Olympics"}}]}] ```