Supporting Champions!

After a delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Paralympic Games recently took place in Tokyo, celebrating the very best of sport for people with an impairment. 

The Games featured 161 athletes with an Intellectual impairment competing in three sports - swimming (S14), table tennis (Class-11) and athletics (T20 and F20) - and their incredible performances inspired the world.

Only a small number of athletes will ever have the chance to reach the Paralymppic Games, but through its member organisations around the world, Virtus works with many thousands of athletes each of whom are 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. 

Our Paralympic role models inspire the next generation of athletes, help break down barriers and improve understanding and awareness. Virtus would like to congratulate every athlete who competed in Tokyo and we are pleased to share our video of the highlights below.

Ready to help Virtus support the next generation of athletes? Your donation will help us to support more athletes, from more nations and in more sports. Thank you for your support from everyone at Virtus.  

Links:

• Paralympic highlights

2020 was the year that international sport stopped. Major events such as the European Football Championships, the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games and of course major Virtus championships all fell victim to the coronavirus pandemic and the associated travel restrictions. 

We all hoped 2021 would see a return to normality and we were delighted that the Virtus World Athletics Championships were able to go ahead as planned recently with more than 100 athletes representing more than 10 nations. However we have been less lucky in other sports, with a number of cancellations and postponements. 

Virtus continues to do whatever it can to support member organisations around the world during this difficult period and the 500,000 athletes with an intellectual impairment we work with globally. 

However despite this ongoing uncertainty, we are just a matter of weeks away from the Tokyo Paralympic Games where athletes with an intellectual impairment will go for gold in athletics (T/F20), swimming (S14) and table tennis (class 11). For many, the Games are the pinnacle event in para-sport. They will attract huge television audiences around the world, create new sporting champions and inpsire a new generation of people with an impairment to take up sport. The Games are about much more than sports competition - they have the power to change the world. 

Virtus will be using this opportunity to raise the profile of athletes with an intellectual impairment, amongst whom research continues to show that particpation rates in sport are much lower than in other groups. Athletes continue to face additional hurdles and barriers in their pursuit of their sporting ambitions, and this is a group who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. 

You can help us by following our website, facebook and twitter accounts during the Games. Please retweet stories, post comments and share as much as posisble to give the worlds best athletes the platform and recognition they deserve.  

Enjoy the Games and thankyou for your continued support to Virtus and sport for athletes with an intellectual impairment.