The Special Olympics USA is a Special Olympics event held every four years in the United States since being founded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver in 2006.[1]
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The 2014 are games are scheduled for June 13-21 in New Jersey. Opening ceremonies, sponsored by the New Jersey Devils, are scheduled for the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The College of New Jersey in the Trenton, New Jersey suburb of Ewing Township, New Jersey will host most of the competition as well as provide the Olympic Village.[2] Some events will be held at Rider University, Princeton University and Mercer County Park. Organizers say they need to raise $12 million to $15 million and they have corporate sponsors in TD Bank, Wyndham Worldwide, AmeriHealth and Jumpstart Auto.[3]
Lincoln, Nebraska hosted the games, July 18–23.
Winner was Heaven Garcia who took the gold followed by April Garris with the silver.
The first game was held July 2-6 in Ames, Iowa. The city of Ames and Iowa State University hosted over 3000 athletes from all 50 states to come and compete in 13 competition sports, including gymnastics, basketball, and powerlifting. Over 8000 volunteers were needed to make this event run smoothly. Actor Tom Arnold, originally from Iowa, was the emcee for the Opening Ceremonies, and several other celebrities were at the event as well, including NFL quarterback Kurt Warner and actor Brandon Routh, both also Iowans.
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