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