Good luck to Team Austria at the Special Olympics World Winter Games
Austrian Lotteries wishes them good luck and is providing financial support and hopefully a bit of luck for their trip to Turin.
The Special Olympics calendar highlight is just around the corner: from March 8 to 15, a remarkable team consisting of 40 athletes will represent Austria at the World Winter Games in Turin. Austrian Lotteries wishes the entire team loads of fun at the competitions and of course plenty of medals.
Today, it seems self-evident that people with intellectual impairments ought to be able to compete in sports. In the beginning, the idea of the Special Olympics movement was not widely accepted. It was only over the course of years and even decades that the awareness of the performance of these athletes increased and how important physical activity is to improve one’s opportunities in life. The first International Games were held in 1968, with representatives from the US and Canada, meaning only two countries participated. More than 1,500 athletes from 100 nations will soon be coming to Turin to celebrate an inclusive, superlative sports festival. Austrian Lotteries has been a part of Austria’s Special Olympics since its foundation in 1993. The focus has remained the same throughout the decades – to establish an inclusive society distinguished by respect, acceptance and equal opportunities. A society in which sports will be a driving force once again.
Austrian Lotteries as the most important financier of domestic sports
Austrian Lotteries’ support of domestic sports is comprehensive and is based on several pillars: On the one hand, there is the promotion of sports, which is enshrined in Austria’s Gambling Act and which benefit mass sports in particular and thus directly benefits the Austrian population. 126 million euros were spent in 2023 alone. Top athletes are ambassadors for Austria and serve as important role models in the country. Of course, this requires optimal training conditions and equipment. Another pillar is therefore the partnership with Sporthilfe, the Austrian Olympic Committee and the Austrian Paralympic Committee. Support for sponsored projects and initiatives such as Special Olympics and the Sport Austria Finals in June in Tyrol, where over 40 types of sports will be given an XXL stage to showcase the diversity of sports, completes the comprehensive measures without which the Austrian sports scene would not be possible in its current form. Austrian Lotteries hopes to continue to fulfil this role in the future, despite the federal government’s current plans.