Special Olympics USA

Logo of the 2006 Special Olympics USA National Games

The Special Olympics USA National Games is a Special Olympics event held every four years in the United States.[1]

2006 Games

The first, quadrennial, USA National Games were held July 1–8, 2006, in Ames, Iowa.[2] The city of Ames and Iowa State University hosted over 3,000 athletes from all 50 states in 13 sports, including aquatics, basketball, bocce, bowling, golf, artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, powerlifting, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.[2] Over 8,000 volunteers were needed to make this event run smoothly. Actor Tom Arnold, originally from Iowa, was the Master of Ceremonies 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.

2010 Games

Lincoln, Nebraska hosted the games, July 18–23.[1]

2014 Games

The 2014 USA Games were held from June 14–21 in New Jersey.[3] The Opening Ceremony was held at Prudential Center in Newark.[4][5] Competition was held at venues throughout Mercer County including The College of New Jersey in the Trenton suburb of Ewing,[6] Rider University, Princeton University and Mercer County Park. The budget for the event exceeded $15M. The Games Founding Partners included 21st Century Fox,[7] Barnabas Health,[8] HESS,[9] KPMG,[10] NJSEA,[11] Prudential,[12] PSE&G,[13] ShopRite,[14] Toys"R"Us[15] and WWE.[16]

Baseball was introduced as a sport at the USA Games for the first time, with four teams — from Alabama, Delaware, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.[17] The gold– and bronze–medal games were played in Arm & Hammer Park in Trenton.[17][18][19]

The triathlon was held for the first time.[20]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Special Olympics 2010 USA National Games official website. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  2. 1 2 Games Results. 2006 Special Olympics USA National Games official website. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  3. ↑ 2014 USA Games / Princeton, NJ. Special Olympics official website. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  4. ↑ Kuperinsky, Amy (June 15, 2014). "Special Olympics 2014 USA Games opening ceremonies illuminate Prudential Center". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  5. ↑ http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2014/06/special_olympics_2014_usa_games_opening_ceremony_prudential_center_nj.html#incart_river_default
  6. ↑ Kaplan, Don (2011-03-17). "NJ gets Special Olympics in '14". New York Post.
  7. ↑ http://www.21cf.com. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ↑ http://www.barnabashealth.org/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ↑ http://www.hess.com/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. ↑ http://www.kpmg.com/US/en/Pages/default.aspx. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ↑ https://www.njsea.com/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. ↑ http://www.prudential.com/view/page/public. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ↑ http://pseg.com/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ↑ http://www.shoprite.com/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. ↑ http://www.toysrus.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=2255956. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. ↑ https://community.wwe.com/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. 1 2 Teicher, Benjamin (June 19, 2014). "Special Olympics baseball games debut at Trenton Thunder ballpark". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  18. ↑ Baseball. 2014 Special Olympics USA National Games official website. Retrieved 2014-06-21.
  19. ↑ "New Jersey Wins Special Olympics Gold At ARM & HAMMER Park". Trenton Thunder. June 20, 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-21. Team New Jersey captured the Gold Medal in the Special Olympics USA Games Inaugural Baseball Finals. Team Rhode Island earned the Silver Medal, Team Delaware earned Bronze and Team Alabama finished in fourth.
  20. ↑ Urciuoli, Brielle (June 18, 2014). "Mercer County Park hosts Special Olympics' inaugural triathlon". The Times of Trenton. Retrieved 2014-06-21.

External links

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