Sergi Grimau, president of the Special Olympics Catalunya club – the main organizer of the Olympic Games for people with learning disabilities, which will be held in Andorra (Pyrenees) and La Seu d’Urgell (Spain, Catalonia) from 4th to 7th October 2018, told all-andorra.com about the preparation for this event.
“Everything is ready for the Olympic Games – there is no need to build any new sports facilities in Andorra la Vella, or in La Seu d’Urgell. The budget for the Olympics will be about 1 million euros. This amount includes everything from accommodation, meals, and entertainment as part of the event for the Olympics participants to competitors accompanying persons, volunteers and organizers.
The Olympic Games will gather about 1500 athletes from more than 20 countries. They will be accompanied by about 400 trainers and 800 volunteers. Competitions will be held in 13 disciplines.
The Olympics for people with intellectual disabilities is a large-scale project. Our goal is to demonstrate to the whole world that people with these disabilities can compete and win. It is extremely important for them and they need our support.
This will be the first joint experience of hosting the Olympics by two neighboring cities of two countries – Andorra and Spain.
On the eve of the Olympic Games, we conduct competitions “Territori Special”, as well as sports exhibitions and competitions for children and young people in preparation for the upcoming Olympics. The competitions will be held on October, 21st-22nd. The 511 adult athletes (233 petanque, 38 badminton, 23 cycling, 177 light athletics, 40 football players) and 8 children between the ages of 2 and 8 will gather to participate in the events. Competitions on petanque, badminton, cycling, and competitions for children will be held in La Seu d’Urgell, whereas the football and athletics events will be in Andorra la Vella.
About 100 organizers and more than 160 volunteers will take part in the event.
The organizers of the event are the town hall of la Seu d’Urgell (Ajuntament), the administration of Andorra la Vella (Comú), the Federation for sports for persons with learning disabilities and the club ‘Special Olympics Catalunya’”.
Jacqueline Terno
