1 00:00:02,033 --> 00:00:04,633 JUDY WOODRUFF: And now a look at the impact of the Special Olympics, 50 years after it 2 00:00:04,633 --> 00:00:07,100 all began. 3 00:00:07,100 --> 00:00:10,666 What started as a small, little-noticed competition in Chicago is now a global movement. 4 00:00:12,700 --> 00:00:15,866 It's helped change society's attitudes toward people with intellectual disabilities. 5 00:00:15,866 --> 00:00:20,866 And, as John Yang reports, their goal is inclusion far beyond the playing field. 6 00:00:22,300 --> 00:00:27,133 JOHN YANG: The summer of 1968, a nation in turmoil. 7 00:00:29,433 --> 00:00:32,400 Protesters marched against the war in Vietnam. 8 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:37,400 Urban riots erupted after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. 9 00:00:39,433 --> 00:00:42,966 But amid the tumult, an event the likes of which the world had never seen: an Olympics 10 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:49,933 for children with intellectual disabilities. 11 00:00:49,933 --> 00:00:52,066 It was July 20. 12 00:00:52,066 --> 00:00:56,633 Eunice Kennedy Shriver spoke during the opening ceremony at Chicago's Soldier Field, just 13 00:00:58,066 --> 00:01:00,200 six weeks after her brother Robert had been killed. 14 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:02,000 EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER, Founder, Special Olympics: In ancient Rome, the gladiators went into 15 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:07,000 the arena with these words on their lips: Let me win. 16 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:12,633 But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt. 17 00:01:12,633 --> 00:01:14,766 Today, many of you will win. 18 00:01:14,766 --> 00:01:18,300 But, even more important, I know you will be brave. 19 00:01:18,300 --> 00:01:20,566 Let us begin the Olympics. 20 00:01:20,566 --> 00:01:22,566 Thank you. 21 00:01:22,566 --> 00:01:26,566 JOHN YANG: About 1,000 competitors from 26 states and Canada ran, swam, threw balls, 22 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:33,600 jumped and showed the world that they could fully participate in the rituals of childhood. 23 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:37,400 The event drew little notice at the time. 24 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:42,400 But it sparked a change in society's attitudes toward the intellectually disabled. 25 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:48,233 Today, millions of athletes train and compete in more than 100,000 events each year in some 26 00:01:50,866 --> 00:01:52,500 170 nations. 27 00:01:52,500 --> 00:01:54,866 Shriver died in 2009. 28 00:01:54,866 --> 00:01:58,300 Her son Tim is now Special Olympics chairman. 29 00:01:58,300 --> 00:02:02,966 He recalls summers at Camp Shriver, a forerunner to Special Olympics. 30 00:02:02,966 --> 00:02:07,400 In the early 1960s, the family opened their Maryland home to special needs kids. 31 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:10,866 TIM SHRIVER, Chairman, Special Olympics: I remember the buses arriving, school buses, 32 00:02:10,866 --> 00:02:12,100 yellow school buses. 33 00:02:12,100 --> 00:02:13,333 They would come from institutions. 34 00:02:13,333 --> 00:02:15,366 I didn't know where they were coming from. 35 00:02:15,366 --> 00:02:18,066 We all would salute the flag and sing the national anthem together in a circle. 36 00:02:18,066 --> 00:02:21,200 I remember my backyard becoming an amusement park. 37 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:26,200 You know, ponies arrived for pony rides, and coaches arrived to coach kickball games. 38 00:02:27,066 --> 00:02:28,300 I remember playing with campers. 39 00:02:28,300 --> 00:02:30,233 I mostly remember that it was fun. 40 00:02:30,233 --> 00:02:35,033 JOHN YANG: The first generation of Special Olympics athletes were born in a time when 41 00:02:36,900 --> 00:02:40,133 the intellectually disabled were shunned, often hidden in institutions. 42 00:02:42,166 --> 00:02:46,933 That would have been the case for Loretta Claiborne, if not for her mother's resistance. 43 00:02:48,900 --> 00:02:52,233 Unable to walk or talk until the age of 4, she went on to become one of Special Olympics' 44 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:55,100 most decorated athletes. 45 00:02:55,100 --> 00:02:56,800 LORETTA CLAIBORNE, Special Olympics Athlete: If it wasn't for Special Olympics, I think 46 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:59,200 I would be in prison or seven -- six feet under. 47 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:02,333 JOHN YANG: Claiborne got involved in Special Olympics as a teenager. 48 00:03:02,333 --> 00:03:06,266 LORETTA CLAIBORNE: It's taught me about how to respect myself, how to have acceptance 49 00:03:06,266 --> 00:03:11,266 of myself, how to respect someone else, and it's OK to be me. 50 00:03:13,233 --> 00:03:16,300 It's OK to be different and to put the disability behind me and put the ability in front of 51 00:03:16,766 --> 00:03:18,400 me. 52 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:20,400 And that's what Special Olympics taught me on the track like this. 53 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:25,000 JOHN YANG: Claiborne has quite literally been etched into history in a painting of Eunice 54 00:03:26,333 --> 00:03:28,600 Shriver at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington. 55 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:30,666 Also in the artwork? 56 00:03:30,666 --> 00:03:34,833 Marty Sheets, another renowned Special Olympics athlete who died in 2015. 57 00:03:35,700 --> 00:03:37,733 His favorite sport was golf. 58 00:03:37,733 --> 00:03:41,800 We spoke to Marty's father, Dave, at the Sligo Creek Golf Course outside Washington, which 59 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:44,733 often hosts Special Olympics events. 60 00:03:44,733 --> 00:03:49,733 Born with Down syndrome, Marty went to the 1968 Chicago Games from North Carolina. 61 00:03:51,133 --> 00:03:52,933 It was the first time he'd ever been on a plane. 62 00:03:52,933 --> 00:03:55,933 But he got sick after arriving and couldn't compete. 63 00:03:55,933 --> 00:03:58,133 He still got a surprise from Eunice Shriver. 64 00:03:58,133 --> 00:04:02,233 DAVE SHEETS, Father of Marty Sheets: She walked over to his table and presented Marty with 65 00:04:02,233 --> 00:04:07,233 a gold medal for having worked so hard, done all of the things he needed to do to get there, 66 00:04:08,666 --> 00:04:11,333 but wasn't able to participate at the time. 67 00:04:11,333 --> 00:04:16,333 And that gold medal has been absolutely famous, as far as I'm concerned. 68 00:04:18,333 --> 00:04:21,500 JOHN YANG: That first Special Olympics began with a proposal from a young Chicago Parks 69 00:04:23,366 --> 00:04:26,633 gym teacher named Anne McGlone, now Illinois State Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke. 70 00:04:28,333 --> 00:04:33,333 In 1968 she, was a college dropout with undiagnosed dyslexia. 71 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:36,133 She worked with intellectually disabled children. 72 00:04:36,133 --> 00:04:38,200 Her experience gave her a thought. 73 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:40,766 JUSTICE ANNE BURKE, Illinois Supreme Court: I just said, well, the regular day camp has 74 00:04:40,766 --> 00:04:42,333 a citywide jamboree. 75 00:04:42,333 --> 00:04:44,333 All of Chicago gets involved in it. 76 00:04:44,333 --> 00:04:48,333 We should have jamboree down at Soldier Field just like that, and we can show everybody 77 00:04:48,333 --> 00:04:50,600 that these children have abilities. 78 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:51,833 That was the spark of it. 79 00:04:51,833 --> 00:04:53,700 JOHN YANG: Burke took her proposal to Shriver. 80 00:04:53,700 --> 00:04:57,533 JUSTICE ANNE BURKE: She said, this is not big enough. 81 00:04:57,533 --> 00:04:59,300 You can't have just a citywide track meet. 82 00:04:59,300 --> 00:05:02,600 It has to be a large track meet for everybody. 83 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:04,666 Invite everybody around the country. 84 00:05:04,666 --> 00:05:09,166 But to have this little jewel start to have its heart beat in Soldier Field, to come to 85 00:05:11,700 --> 00:05:16,700 full fruition about a vulnerable society, was under the radar. 86 00:05:18,433 --> 00:05:22,866 JOHN YANG: This week, the competition is back where it began. 87 00:05:22,866 --> 00:05:27,866 A highlight is the first global Special Olympics soccer tournament of unified teams, players 88 00:05:29,266 --> 00:05:34,066 both with and without intellectual disabilities. 89 00:05:35,500 --> 00:05:37,833 Cody Zimmer is a 25 year old from DeKalb, Illinois. 90 00:05:37,833 --> 00:05:40,266 He's been diagnosed with mild autism. 91 00:05:40,266 --> 00:05:42,500 This is his first time on a unified team. 92 00:05:42,500 --> 00:05:46,666 CODY ZIMMER, Special Olympics Athlete: Normal - - like, athletes from like schools, I normally 93 00:05:46,666 --> 00:05:49,566 usually have to play against them, never with them, so good learning experience. 94 00:05:49,566 --> 00:05:52,833 JOHN YANG: Do you think they're learning something too? 95 00:05:52,833 --> 00:05:57,400 CODY ZIMMER: Yes, learning that just because some of us in Special Olympics have disabilities 96 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,133 doesn't make us any different from being normal people. 97 00:06:00,133 --> 00:06:04,933 JOHN YANG: Seventeen-year-old Cori Hoekstra plays on the women's team. 98 00:06:04,933 --> 00:06:08,866 She says she's gained a lot from playing with athletes with disabilities. 99 00:06:08,866 --> 00:06:12,366 CORI HOEKSTRA, Special Olympics Unified Partner: Each person knows certain things, doesn't 100 00:06:12,366 --> 00:06:14,933 know certain things, so you have to adapt and work with them. 101 00:06:14,933 --> 00:06:19,933 Definitely learned patience and being able to help them through it and not getting so 102 00:06:20,666 --> 00:06:22,700 frustrated so quickly. 103 00:06:22,700 --> 00:06:26,200 JOHN YANG: Fifty years after the first Special Olympics were held here at Chicago's Soldier 104 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:31,100 Field, the organization has an ambitious goal for the next half-century. 105 00:06:31,100 --> 00:06:36,100 Tim Shriver says he wants people with intellectual disabilities fully integrated into society, 106 00:06:38,100 --> 00:06:42,000 not just competing alongside those without disabilities, but going to school with them, 107 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:44,600 working with them, living with them. 108 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:46,900 He calls it the inclusion revolution. 109 00:06:46,900 --> 00:06:49,233 TIM SHRIVER: Revolution is strong language. 110 00:06:49,233 --> 00:06:51,866 It implies a challenge to the status quo. 111 00:06:51,866 --> 00:06:54,133 It implies an opponent. 112 00:06:54,133 --> 00:06:59,133 We cannot and we shouldn't tolerate business or schools or health care institutions or 113 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:05,333 sporting organizations that say, we're open for most, but not for you. 114 00:07:06,133 --> 00:07:08,133 Those days must end. 115 00:07:08,133 --> 00:07:12,533 JOHN YANG: Shriver hopes no one mistakes the joy of the Games for the seriousness of the 116 00:07:15,166 --> 00:07:16,666 mission. 117 00:07:16,666 --> 00:07:18,666 For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm John Yang in Chicago.