Jamie O’Connor | Special Olympics Australia chief executive (16.09.26)
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What are the dates and location of the 2026 Special Olympics Australia National Games?
In October twenty twenty six, so next month, Melbourne is going to host the Special Olympics Australia National Games. Let's learn more about them as we invite you to buy a virtual torch. Visit donate dot specialolympics.com.au. The CEO of Special Olympics Australia is Jamie O'Connor. Jamie, it's great to have you on the program. Welcome. Morning, yeah, thanks for having us on.
What events and athlete participation are planned for the Melbourne National Games?
What's in store between the nineteenth and the twenty third of October?
Yeah, we've got plenty going on. National games. Um it'll be the third time we've held one in uh in Melbourne and we're um yeah, really excited to to come back down to what's um arguably Australia's greatest um sporting city. We've got thirteen sports, uh about eight hundred and fifty athletes and a small contingent. coming over from New Zealand to compete across those days. Um, yeah, really excited to
How are athletes preparing and what logistical challenges are involved in hosting the Games?
You know, it's getting close now, it's only a month away. Um, our athletes are fine tuning preparations and um and so's all of our team in trying to pull this together at at um you know, it's a fairly Um in a large uh operation that's that's um happening here. So, you know, across multiple venues and the like. So yeah, really looking forward to the next month of working hard and getting it um underway in a few weeks' time.
Jamie, if you have eight hundred and fifty, you'll have eight hundred and fifty remarkable stories here. Who are our athletes? Who competes here?
Uh yeah, so we've got uh we've got delegations from every state and territory in Australia. As I said, we've got a small number of of um athletes in equestrian and golfers coming across from from New Zealand. Um But y yeah, look, the organization um provides sporting opportunities for people with intellectual disability and or autism and that's that's who we'll see uh attend the games across these uh across the four days in in October. Um yeah, some phenomenal athletes and you're right, we've got eight hundred and fifty athletes coming down, so we've got eight hundred and fifty remarkable stories. um to be told.
Why is sport so important for people with intellectual disabilities?
And we're gonna you know, amongst the the athletes, not only is it, you know, uh are their stories phenomenal, but so are the f the stories of each of their families, um, the support that goes into providing opportunities for for people with intellec intellectual disability to engage in sport uh at a grassroots level, let alone achieving um, you know, the opportunity to represent their state and their national games extraordinary. So lots of great stories to tell for sure.
How how important can sport be for these athletes to to make the choice and to to find their way through the grassroots and then have something to aspire to?
Yeah, so important. All of your listeners understand the power of sport. Um and it's uh it's on a uh uh i it's on a m much larger scale when we're talking about the opportunities that it provides people with intellectual disability. You know, in people with intellectual disability are far like more likely to present themselves to hospital. When they go to hospital they're far more likely to stay longer. Their physical health and mental health is is um far worse than um, than people without intellectual disability that got a lifespan, um uh uh sorry, a life expectancy. that's around sixteen years um less than people without an intellectual disability, they're more likely to be incarcerated. So all of these key measures that that governments and uh and society looks at.
How can Australian athletes qualify for the 2027 World Games in Chile?
Um, they are um, you know, poorly represented in e in each and all of those categories. And then when you put sport into the mix it's Um clearly it's great for your physical health, it's great for mental health, it's great to be able to connect to communities. Um the social outcomes are phenomenal. Uh we do some really great work with athletes in um through our athlete leaders um program and concepts around that that teaches life skills as as much as anything else. Um we do some phenomenal work, you know, outside of the the white lines of sport as well. So really, really um uh important for for people with intellectual disability to be able to engage in sport.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What are the dates and location of the 2026 Special Olympics Australia National Games?
0:00–0:21
2
What events and athlete participation are planned for the Melbourne National Games?
0:21–0:47
3
How are athletes preparing and what logistical challenges are involved in hosting the Games?
0:47–1:49
4
Why is sport so important for people with intellectual disabilities?
1:49–3:04
5
How can Australian athletes qualify for the 2027 World Games in Chile?
3:04–3:41
6
How can listeners support the Games by buying a virtual torch and volunteering?
3:41–5:21
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Whateley
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