WEBVTT 00:02.033 --> 00:04.633 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: And now a look at the impact of the Special Olympics, 50 years after it 00:04.633 --> 00:07.100 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% all began. 00:07.100 --> 00:10.666 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% What started as a small, little-noticed competition in Chicago is now a global movement. 00:12.700 --> 00:15.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% It's helped change society's attitudes toward people with intellectual disabilities. 00:15.866 --> 00:20.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And, as John Yang reports, their goal is inclusion far beyond the playing field. 00:22.300 --> 00:27.133 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% JOHN YANG: The summer of 1968, a nation in turmoil. 00:29.433 --> 00:32.400 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Protesters marched against the war in Vietnam. 00:32.400 --> 00:37.400 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Urban riots erupted after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. 00:39.433 --> 00:42.966 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% But amid the tumult, an event the likes of which the world had never seen: an Olympics 00:45.600 --> 00:49.933 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% for children with intellectual disabilities. 00:49.933 --> 00:52.066 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% It was July 20. 00:52.066 --> 00:56.633 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Eunice Kennedy Shriver spoke during the opening ceremony at Chicago's Soldier Field, just 00:58.066 --> 01:00.200 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% six weeks after her brother Robert had been killed. 01:00.200 --> 01:02.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER, Founder, Special Olympics: In ancient Rome, the gladiators went into 01:02.000 --> 01:07.000 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% the arena with these words on their lips: Let me win. 01:08.400 --> 01:12.633 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt. 01:12.633 --> 01:14.766 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Today, many of you will win. 01:14.766 --> 01:18.300 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% But, even more important, I know you will be brave. 01:18.300 --> 01:20.566 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Let us begin the Olympics. 01:20.566 --> 01:22.566 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% Thank you. 01:22.566 --> 01:26.566 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: About 1,000 competitors from 26 states and Canada ran, swam, threw balls, 01:28.600 --> 01:33.600 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% jumped and showed the world that they could fully participate in the rituals of childhood. 01:35.000 --> 01:37.400 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% The event drew little notice at the time. 01:37.400 --> 01:42.400 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% But it sparked a change in society's attitudes toward the intellectually disabled. 01:44.400 --> 01:48.233 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Today, millions of athletes train and compete in more than 100,000 events each year in some 01:50.866 --> 01:52.500 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% 170 nations. 01:52.500 --> 01:54.866 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% Shriver died in 2009. 01:54.866 --> 01:58.300 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Her son Tim is now Special Olympics chairman. 01:58.300 --> 02:02.966 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% He recalls summers at Camp Shriver, a forerunner to Special Olympics. 02:02.966 --> 02:07.400 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% In the early 1960s, the family opened their Maryland home to special needs kids. 02:07.400 --> 02:10.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% TIM SHRIVER, Chairman, Special Olympics: I remember the buses arriving, school buses, 02:10.866 --> 02:12.100 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% yellow school buses. 02:12.100 --> 02:13.333 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% They would come from institutions. 02:13.333 --> 02:15.366 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% I didn't know where they were coming from. 02:15.366 --> 02:18.066 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% We all would salute the flag and sing the national anthem together in a circle. 02:18.066 --> 02:21.200 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% I remember my backyard becoming an amusement park. 02:21.200 --> 02:26.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% You know, ponies arrived for pony rides, and coaches arrived to coach kickball games. 02:27.066 --> 02:28.300 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% I remember playing with campers. 02:28.300 --> 02:30.233 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% I mostly remember that it was fun. 02:30.233 --> 02:35.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: The first generation of Special Olympics athletes were born in a time when 02:36.900 --> 02:40.133 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% the intellectually disabled were shunned, often hidden in institutions. 02:42.166 --> 02:46.933 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% That would have been the case for Loretta Claiborne, if not for her mother's resistance. 02:48.900 --> 02:52.233 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Unable to walk or talk until the age of 4, she went on to become one of Special Olympics' 02:53.000 --> 02:55.100 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% most decorated athletes. 02:55.100 --> 02:56.800 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% LORETTA CLAIBORNE, Special Olympics Athlete: If it wasn't for Special Olympics, I think 02:56.800 --> 02:59.200 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% I would be in prison or seven -- six feet under. 02:59.200 --> 03:02.333 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% JOHN YANG: Claiborne got involved in Special Olympics as a teenager. 03:02.333 --> 03:06.266 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% LORETTA CLAIBORNE: It's taught me about how to respect myself, how to have acceptance 03:06.266 --> 03:11.266 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% of myself, how to respect someone else, and it's OK to be me. 03:13.233 --> 03:16.300 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% It's OK to be different and to put the disability behind me and put the ability in front of 03:16.766 --> 03:18.400 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% me. 03:18.400 --> 03:20.400 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% And that's what Special Olympics taught me on the track like this. 03:20.400 --> 03:25.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: Claiborne has quite literally been etched into history in a painting of Eunice 03:26.333 --> 03:28.600 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Shriver at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington. 03:28.600 --> 03:30.666 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% Also in the artwork? 03:30.666 --> 03:34.833 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Marty Sheets, another renowned Special Olympics athlete who died in 2015. 03:35.700 --> 03:37.733 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% His favorite sport was golf. 03:37.733 --> 03:41.800 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% We spoke to Marty's father, Dave, at the Sligo Creek Golf Course outside Washington, which 03:41.800 --> 03:44.733 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% often hosts Special Olympics events. 03:44.733 --> 03:49.733 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Born with Down syndrome, Marty went to the 1968 Chicago Games from North Carolina. 03:51.133 --> 03:52.933 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% It was the first time he'd ever been on a plane. 03:52.933 --> 03:55.933 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% But he got sick after arriving and couldn't compete. 03:55.933 --> 03:58.133 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% He still got a surprise from Eunice Shriver. 03:58.133 --> 04:02.233 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% DAVE SHEETS, Father of Marty Sheets: She walked over to his table and presented Marty with 04:02.233 --> 04:07.233 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% a gold medal for having worked so hard, done all of the things he needed to do to get there, 04:08.666 --> 04:11.333 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% but wasn't able to participate at the time. 04:11.333 --> 04:16.333 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% And that gold medal has been absolutely famous, as far as I'm concerned. 04:18.333 --> 04:21.500 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: That first Special Olympics began with a proposal from a young Chicago Parks 04:23.366 --> 04:26.633 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% gym teacher named Anne McGlone, now Illinois State Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke. 04:28.333 --> 04:33.333 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% In 1968 she, was a college dropout with undiagnosed dyslexia. 04:34.600 --> 04:36.133 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% She worked with intellectually disabled children. 04:36.133 --> 04:38.200 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Her experience gave her a thought. 04:38.200 --> 04:40.766 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUSTICE ANNE BURKE, Illinois Supreme Court: I just said, well, the regular day camp has 04:40.766 --> 04:42.333 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% a citywide jamboree. 04:42.333 --> 04:44.333 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% All of Chicago gets involved in it. 04:44.333 --> 04:48.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% We should have jamboree down at Soldier Field just like that, and we can show everybody 04:48.333 --> 04:50.600 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% that these children have abilities. 04:50.600 --> 04:51.833 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% That was the spark of it. 04:51.833 --> 04:53.700 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% JOHN YANG: Burke took her proposal to Shriver. 04:53.700 --> 04:57.533 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% JUSTICE ANNE BURKE: She said, this is not big enough. 04:57.533 --> 04:59.300 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% You can't have just a citywide track meet. 04:59.300 --> 05:02.600 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% It has to be a large track meet for everybody. 05:02.600 --> 05:04.666 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Invite everybody around the country. 05:04.666 --> 05:09.166 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% But to have this little jewel start to have its heart beat in Soldier Field, to come to 05:11.700 --> 05:16.700 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% full fruition about a vulnerable society, was under the radar. 05:18.433 --> 05:22.866 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% JOHN YANG: This week, the competition is back where it began. 05:22.866 --> 05:27.866 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% A highlight is the first global Special Olympics soccer tournament of unified teams, players 05:29.266 --> 05:34.066 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% both with and without intellectual disabilities. 05:35.500 --> 05:37.833 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Cody Zimmer is a 25 year old from DeKalb, Illinois. 05:37.833 --> 05:40.266 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% He's been diagnosed with mild autism. 05:40.266 --> 05:42.500 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% This is his first time on a unified team. 05:42.500 --> 05:46.666 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% CODY ZIMMER, Special Olympics Athlete: Normal - - like, athletes from like schools, I normally 05:46.666 --> 05:49.566 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% usually have to play against them, never with them, so good learning experience. 05:49.566 --> 05:52.833 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% JOHN YANG: Do you think they're learning something too? 05:52.833 --> 05:57.400 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% CODY ZIMMER: Yes, learning that just because some of us in Special Olympics have disabilities 05:57.400 --> 06:00.133 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% doesn't make us any different from being normal people. 06:00.133 --> 06:04.933 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: Seventeen-year-old Cori Hoekstra plays on the women's team. 06:04.933 --> 06:08.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% She says she's gained a lot from playing with athletes with disabilities. 06:08.866 --> 06:12.366 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% CORI HOEKSTRA, Special Olympics Unified Partner: Each person knows certain things, doesn't 06:12.366 --> 06:14.933 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% know certain things, so you have to adapt and work with them. 06:14.933 --> 06:19.933 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Definitely learned patience and being able to help them through it and not getting so 06:20.666 --> 06:22.700 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% frustrated so quickly. 06:22.700 --> 06:26.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: Fifty years after the first Special Olympics were held here at Chicago's Soldier 06:26.200 --> 06:31.100 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Field, the organization has an ambitious goal for the next half-century. 06:31.100 --> 06:36.100 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Tim Shriver says he wants people with intellectual disabilities fully integrated into society, 06:38.100 --> 06:42.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% not just competing alongside those without disabilities, but going to school with them, 06:43.200 --> 06:44.600 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% working with them, living with them. 06:44.600 --> 06:46.900 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% He calls it the inclusion revolution. 06:46.900 --> 06:49.233 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% TIM SHRIVER: Revolution is strong language. 06:49.233 --> 06:51.866 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% It implies a challenge to the status quo. 06:51.866 --> 06:54.133 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% It implies an opponent. 06:54.133 --> 06:59.133 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% We cannot and we shouldn't tolerate business or schools or health care institutions or 07:00.800 --> 07:05.333 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% sporting organizations that say, we're open for most, but not for you. 07:06.133 --> 07:08.133 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% Those days must end. 07:08.133 --> 07:12.533 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JOHN YANG: Shriver hopes no one mistakes the joy of the Games for the seriousness of the 07:15.166 --> 07:16.666 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% mission. 07:16.666 --> 07:18.666 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm John Yang in Chicago.