Supporting Champions!

The second edition of the Virtus European Summer Games (VESG) took place from 18-23^rd July in Cracow, Poland. 

The championship was attended by more than 500 athletes representing eighteen countries from the European region including Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey who competed across nine sports. Invited athletes from Australia also participated in the Tennis event and athletes from Ecuador joined in the Cycling event. The nine sports on offer were athletics, swimming, table tennis, basketball, handball, tennis, cycling, rowing, and badminton, a new discipline in the Virtus competition calendar.

A total of twenty-five new Virtus World Records were set at VESG. In swimming, twenty-two Short Course Virtus World Records were set,  several of which were set in the heats and again later in the finals, and in one case as the lead swimmer in a Relay. Paralympians such as Pernille Lindberg (SWE), Aymeric Parmentier (BEL), Eva Coronado and Nathan Maillet (FRA) were some of those who set new records at the pool.  Meanwhile, Track and Field stars from Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games - Ndiaga Dieng (ITA), Karolina Kucharczyk and Barbara Bieganowska (POL) broke Virtus Records in their favourite events. 

The first inaugural Virtus Oceania-Asia Games are less than a month away and will be hosted in Brisbane, Australia from 5^th to 11^th November by Sport Inclusion Australia. With hundreds of athletes and officials from Asia, the Pacific and New Zealand coming to Australia, the OA Games 2022 will celebrate diversity, sport, people, ability and culture in a major sporting event allowing athletes to compete on a world stage.

You can read more about our event updates and athletes’ performance on Virtus website.

Virtus works with many thousands of athletes each of whom is aiming to be the best they can be in sport - whether that is in a local or national competition, a Virtus World Championship or the Global Games. While the number of participants has increased, there are still many nations in developing and underdeveloped nations that need our help and support to be able to compete at elite s events for athletes with intellectual impairment. 

Unfortunately, Virtus does not qualify for government funding or the financial support that has been made available to some not-for-profit organisations during the pandemic. Your help - following us on social media, sharing our stories and updates, donations and assistance - have been all the more appreciated during this difficult period and now more than ever we would like to thank you for your support.

Links:

• Virtus Sport Website
• Virtus Sport Competition Calendar

After very limited competition over the past 2.5 years, we are delighted that the Virtus European Games in July mark the next step in our long-awaited return to competition with more than 400 athletes due to participate across a range of sports in Poland. 

Following this will be the Americas Games (Brazil - September) and Oceania-Asia Games in November - our largest programme of Regional Championships ever. 

This is a particularly important development as Regional Games not only provide the important stepping stone for athletes looking to break-through into international competition, but are also an important test opportunity for new sports which might one day be added to the Virtus programme. Badminton, Equestrian and Rugby are amongst those sports being considered as part of a demonstration programme which runs alongside the main competition events.

Taking place one year before the Virtus Global Games - the world's largest sporting competition for athletes with an intellectual impairment - the Regional Games will be an important qualification opportunity and a chance for athletes to make their mark ahead of selection. 

As always, the support of our many followers around the world is critical to our ability to grow and deliver new opportunities like the Regional Games. We thank each and everyone of you for your commitment to sport for athletes with an intellectual impairment. 

To find out more, read event updates and follow the success of athletes then visit our website or follow us on social media and we look forward to sharing Virtus athlete success stories with you in the coming weeks.