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February and March  

The Special Olympics Bharat Floor Hockey team participated in the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games held in Nagano, Japan; a delegation of 21 members participated in the Floor Hockey tournament.

They met the Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh and were seen off by the Special Olympics Bharat Brand Ambassador, Movie Star Mr Akshay Kumar. The Team stood fifth in their division

Indian team for the World Winter Games meets
the Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh
Indian Team with the Special Olympics Bharat Brand
Ambassador Mr Akshay Kumar
 
April

A delegation which included Dr Tim Shriver CEO of Special Olympics International, Air Marshal Denzil Keelor, Chairman Special Olympics Bharat, Mr. Troy Greisen, MD SOI Asia Pacific among other prominent officials of Special Olympics International met

The Hon’ble President of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam who lit the FLAME OF HOPE and supported the cause of the Intellectually Disabled`
The Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh expressed his solidarity with the Special Olympics
Movement in India
 

The Delegation with the Chairman of the UPA Mrs Sonia Gandhi who assured all support to the mentally challenged in India
 
In April Special Olympics Bharat entered into an MoU with Parivaar, an association of the families of the Intellectually Disabled in India. This has helped in identifying more of the Intellectually Disabled for Special Olympics Bharat programs.
 
 
September

A new State program launched in Sikkim under the Area Director Dr DP Dhakal

Air Marshal Keelor (Retd) Chairman Special Olympics Bharat with the FLAME of HOPE in Sikkim
 
 
 
November

At a Press Conference held on 17 November 05 Cricketing Legend Kapil Dev and Silver medalist in the Athens Olympic Games Lt. Col Rathore agreed to become Brand Ambassadors for Special Olympics Bharat and endorsed their support to the Program
Mr. Kapil Dev and Lt Col Rathore with Special Athlete Joginder and Special Olympics International –Asia Pacific MD Mr Troy Greisen
July to December

2005 Special Olympics Bharat National Games

2005 Special Olympics Bharat National Games were conducted in 9 cities. 12 sport disciplines were competed. A Torch Run preceded the Games at all nine venues

The 2005 Special Olympics National games were held in the following events

Games City
Football Kolkata
Swimming Mumbai
Volleyball Bareilly
Cycling Bareilly
Bocce Hyderabad
Roller Skating Hyderabad
Badminton Korba
Table Tennis Korba
Team Handball Jamshedpur
Basketball Jabalpur
Athletics Delhi
Power Lifting Mangalore

 
Over 5000 Special Athletes and 350 coaches, special educators & escorts participated in the Games which made the National Games
2005 a huge success.
As many as 20,000 volunteers, family members and local organizers from schools & other institutions also participated in the Special Olympics National Games program.

The National Games witnessed new challenges and a high level of performance by each and every Special Athlete.
The National Games 2005 is the platform to select the Probables for the Special Olympics Summer games to be held Shanghai, China, in 2007.
TORCH RUN 2005
 
The Flame of hope was lit this year by the Hon’ble President, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. The objective of the Torch Run is to carry this Flame of Hope to 30 million Intellectually Disabled persons in India. The event generated tremendous awareness leading to a greater number of registrations of athletes, coaches and families for Special Olympics Bharat .The Torch traversed more than 12,000 kilometres and the endeavour involved over 12,000 athletes, 24,000 students, volunteers, families and over 70 VIPs and celebrities.








S.No
City
Date
     
1
Kolkatta
27 July 05
2
Patna
 5 August 05
3
Jaipur
 18 August 05
4
Gangtok
 16 September 05
5
Nagpur
 22 September 05
6
Mumbai
 2 October 05
7
Bareilly
 14 October 05
8
Hyderabad
 19 October 05
9
Ludhiana
 11 November 05
10
Jamshedpur
 15 November 05
11
Korba
 16 November 05
12
Coimbatore
 18 November 05
13
Jabalpur
 20 November 05
14
Delhi
 28 November 05
15
Mangalore
 22 February 06