The origins of the Special Olympics Movement in Poland in the 20th century

Since World War II, sport involving people with disabilities has gradually evolved in Poland, and people with intellectual disabilities had not participated in any sporting events until the end of the 1960s. They were treated as second-class citizens having no rights that they should be entitled to. The reason behind this was the State’s policy towards sport, where high-performance sport, especially Olympic sport, played a vital role that was supposed to testify to the high level of civilisation in communist Poland. People with disabilities were regarded as a shameful problem and were practically kept hidden away. They, therefore, did not participate in social life, including athletic activities. The first competition held in Poland under the name of the Special Olympics was not organised until 1969 in Poznań. On May 26, 1973, the first national sporting event for mentally retarded children (as they were referred to at the time) was called Spartakiad and was held in Warsaw. That was around that time that the sports movement in Poland began to draw on American practices, and in the 1980s it adopted the form of the Special Olympics, both in terms of organisation and sporting activities. This period was marked by active cooperation with the USA and other countries, where Polish athletes with intellectual disabilities began to compete in international competitions.