Official celebrations, such as the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics World Games, in the Berlin Olympic Stadium covered by the night sky, are meticulously planned - as is the lighting of the "Flame of Hope" under the eyes of the watching world population. But these Games are something special. The enthusiastic audience on site also experienced this. One of the torch runners got lost, the other set off for a 100-meter sprint on the blue, distinctive running track, overlooked her handover partner, and cheered on the crowds before the flame was finally lit. What would typically cause great excitement, the 50,000 fans gave a standing ovation.
Life is not free of mistakes - this was shown by the world's largest inclusive sporting event, where thousands of athletes competed, more than 330,000 fans watched at the sporting venues, and 20,000 volunteers actively supported. This was also the case with Team ELDA, part of the Associate Professorship of Didactics in Sport and Health, which links teaching and research with the topic area of "Inclusive Settings: Learning and Teaching Forms in Design for All".
Team ELDA is Elke Langbein and Dr. Daniela Schwarz, who had made their way to the capital with a ten-member group of students of sport and health sciences. "We are proud that within the framework of the Special Olympics World Games, we have once again succeeded in preparing our students for their future professional tasks with such practical courses and, at the same time, being able to make a valuable contribution to society together with them," says Prof. Dr. Filip Mess, head of the Associate Professorship of Didactics in Sport and Health, emphasizing the special significance of the Games.
For the TUM delegation, three pillars were on the agenda for the ten-day event: science, health, and sport. "As part of our project InSoMe (Inclusive Social Media), we investigated how our target group, i.e., people with intellectual disabilities, use social media in the first place," explains Dr. Schwarz. "For this, our students interviewed more than 100 people from 30 different countries and put the project in an international context accordingly," adds Elke Langbein.
More than 100 research groups worldwide, including Team ELDA, applied for the scientific program. Fifty-three groups submitted applications, and forty-one were ultimately accepted - in the end, there were almost 220 researchers on-site. "What was particularly great were the opportunities for networking and exchange with scientists from different fields to talk about the possibilities of our research," explains Langbein.
The two researchers have also been active with their health project "Strong Minds" since 2016, with Schwarz as Clinical Director for Strong Minds Germany and Langbein as State Coordinator for Bavaria. Team ELDA helps interested parties at national and regional games to practice techniques for coping with unwanted stress with athletes and thus strengthen psychological well-being and positive thinking and action. It was similar at the Special Olympics: "It was incredible - a headmaster from India joined our program because he heard about it in advance. He wants to offer his students more opportunities and paid for his journey himself just to be able to participate and learn with us," explains Schwarz.
In general, the event was very politically charged, as shown by the visit of numerous high-ranking politicians, such as Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz or Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. In addition to multiple congresses, the Global Forum for Inclusion participants worked together to promote inclusive education and communities through sports for youth of all abilities. "The Berlin Declaration" calls on global community members to promote inclusive school sport, provide funding and create inclusive education programs for disadvantaged children and youth.
Host Town Program with Canadian Delegation at TUM Campus at the Olympic Park
Previously, the City of Munich hosted the Canadian delegation as part of the Host Town Program, which took place June 12-15 2023, just before the Special Olympics - around 141 Canadians had time over three days to take part in a cultural program, a torch relay in the Olympic Park and training in their sports. "Some of our students prepared the event in Berlin in our seminars - the other group prepared the visit of the Canadian delegation in Munich," explains Dr. Daniela Schwarz.
The training took place at the TUM Campus at the Olympic Park. The Canadian delegation had the opportunity to train at the surrounding sports facilities in all nine disciplines, from powerlifting to golf. "And it's a nice thought - the facilities were built 50 years ago to prepare Olympians for competition - now athletes were on site again to prepare for their special games," Langbein says, once again making the special spirit of the Special Olympics clear.