Iraqi athletes departing Dublin after the 2003 Special Olympics World Games

The 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games were hosted in Ireland, with participants staying in various host towns around the island in the lead up to the games before moving to dublin for the events. Events were held from 21 June-29 June 2003 at many venues including Morton Stadium, the Royal Dublin Society in Ballsbridge and the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght, Dublin. Croke Park Gaelic Games stadium, in Dublin served as the central stadium for the opening and closing ceremonies, even though no competitions took place there. Belfast was the venue for roller skating events (at the Odyssey Arena), as well as the Special Olympics Scientific Symposium (held from 19-20 June). Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 165 KB) Iraqi athletes departing 2003 Special Olympics World Games in Dublin Ireland File links The following pages link to this file: 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 165 KB) Iraqi athletes departing 2003 Special Olympics World Games in Dublin Ireland File links The following pages link to this file: 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games ... is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Morton stadium is an athletics stadium in Dublin in Ireland. ... The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) was founded in 1731 by members of the Dublin Philosophical Society in their Trinity College Dublin rooms as the Dublin Society. ... The Spire at night WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: , Statistics Province: Leinster County: Dáil Éireann: Dublin Central, Dublin North Central, Dublin North East, Dublin North West, Dublin South Central, Dublin South East European Parliament: Dublin Dialling Code: 01, +353 1 Postal District(s): D1-24, D6W Area: 114. ... Croke Park (Irish: Páirc an Chrócaigh) in Dublin, Ireland is the largest sports stadium in Ireland and the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), Irelands biggest sporting organisation. ... Gaelic games are the native sports of Ireland: principally Hurling, Gaelic Football and Camogie. ... Telstra Stadium in Sydney, Australia is capable of being converted from a rectangular rugby football field to an oval for cricket and Australian rules football games This article is about the building type. ... The Spire at night WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: , Statistics Province: Leinster County: Dáil Éireann: Dublin Central, Dublin North Central, Dublin North East, Dublin North West, Dublin South Central, Dublin South East European Parliament: Dublin Dialling Code: 01, +353 1 Postal District(s): D1-24, D6W Area: 114. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: , Statistics Province: Northern Ireland County: District: Belfast UK Parliament: Belfast North Belfast South Belfast East Belfast West European Parliament: Northern Ireland Dialling Code: 028, +44 28 posttown = Belfast Postal District(s): BT1-BT17, BT29 (part of), BT58 Area: 115 km² Population (2001) Website: www. ... “Roller Skater” redirects here. ... The Odyssey Arena is a 7,100-seat multi-purpose arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland. ... is the 171st day of the year (172nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Host town programme

177 towns, cities and villages and the Aran Islands hosted national delegations in the run up to the games. Each town ran programmes to educate the local community about the customs of the country they would host and provided facilities for the teams to acclimatise. Newbridge, County Kildare, host to the Japan delegation won the award for best host town. This does not cite any references or sources. ... Newbridge is the name of at least two places: Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland - sometimes known by its Irish name, Droichead Nua Newbridge, Wales (traditionally in Monmouthshire), United Kingdom Newbridge, Wolverhampton, a suburb of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might... Statistics Province: Leinster County Town: Naas Code: KE Area: 1,693 km² Population (2006) 186,075 Website: www. ...

Volunteer programme

30,000 volunteer officials and support staff assisted in the running of the games, including 900 staff of the Bank of Ireland who coordinated the host town programme and 800 members of the Irish Defence Forces who maintained the radio communication network, and provided support for bridge building, security duties, VIP drivers, standard bearers for ceremonial events and emergency medical teams. 165 volunteers from the then 15 countries of the EU took part in an European Volunteer Project (EVS), the first ever to be organized in event-related mode. The Bank of Ireland (ISEQ: BKIR_p) LSE: BKIR NYSE: IRE, officially known as the Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland is a commercial bank operation on the island of Ireland, one of the Big Four. The bank was formed by an Act of the Irish Parliament in 1782... The Irish Defence Forces are the army, navy and air force of the Republic of Ireland. ...

The Games

The 2003 World Games were the first to be held outside of the United States. Approximately 7000 athletes from 150 countries competed in the games in 18 official disciplines, and three exhibition sports. The participants from Kosovo were the region's first team at an international sporting event. A 12-member team from Iraq received special permission to attend the games, despite ongoing war in their home nation. Kosovo (Albanian: or , Serbian: , transliterated ; also , transliterated ) is a province in southern Serbia which has been under United Nations administration since 1999. ... The subject of this article is the 2003 invasion of Iraq. ...

The crowd at the 2003 Special Olympics World Games Opening Ceremonies in Croke Park, Dublin , Ireland as Team USA enters the stadium

The opening ceremony was held in Croke Park featured an array of stars and was hosted by Patrick Kielty. The band U2 were a major feature, and Nelson Mandela officially opened the games. Other performances included The Corrs and the largest Riverdance troupe ever assembled on one stage. 75,000 athletes and spectators were in attendance at the opening ceremonies. Irish and international celebrities such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jon Bon Jovi walked with the athletes, with Muhammad Ali as a special guest and Manchester United and Republic of Ireland football player Roy Keane taking the athletes oath with one of the Special Olympians. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 736 KB) The crowd at the 2003 Special Olympics World Games Opening Ceremonies in Croke Park, Dublin , Ireland. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 736 KB) The crowd at the 2003 Special Olympics World Games Opening Ceremonies in Croke Park, Dublin , Ireland. ... Croke Park (Irish: Páirc an Chrócaigh) in Dublin, Ireland is the largest sports stadium in Ireland and the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), Irelands biggest sporting organisation. ... Patrick Kielty (born 31 January 1971) is an Irish television personality. ... U2 are a rock band from Dublin, Ireland. ... Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (IPA pronunciation: //) (born July 18, 1918) was the first President of South Africa to be elected in fully-representative democratic elections. ... The Corrs are a multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated Celtic folk-rock and pop rock group from Dundalk, Republic of Ireland. ... Riverdance Promotional Poster Riverdance is a theatrical show consisting of traditional Irish step dancing, notable for its rapid leg movements while body and arms are kept largely stationary. ... Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (German pronunciation (IPA): ) (born on July 30, 1947) is an Austrian-American bodybuilder, actor and an American politician, currently serving as the 38th Governor of California. ... Jon Bon Jovi (born John Francis Bongiovi Jr on March 2, 1962) is an American singer, musician, businessman, actor and avid downhill skier. ... “Cassius Clay” redirects here. ... Manchester United Football Club are a world-famous English football club, based at the Old Trafford stadium in Trafford, Greater Manchester, and are one of the most popular sports clubs in the world, with over 50 million supporters worldwide. ... Look up Football in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971, Cork, Ireland) is a former Irish professional footballer and the current manager of English Premier League club Sunderland, the winners of the 2006-07 Coca-Cola Championship. ...

The Games Flame was lit at the culmination of the Law Enforcement Torch Run, which more than 2,000 members of the Garda Siochana and the Police Service of Northern Ireland took part in. This was a series of relays carrying the Special Olympics Torch, the "Flame of Hope", from Europe to the Games' official opening. A member of the motorcycle unit of the Garda Síochána. ... The Police Service of Northern Ireland (Irish: Seirbhís Póilíneachta Thuaisceart na hÉireann) is the police service that covers Northern Ireland. ... 1. ...

The ceremony was officially opened by President of Ireland Mary McAleese and attended by Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland Bertie Ahern.-1... Mary Patricia McAleese (Irish: [1]; born 27 June 1951) is the eighth, and current, President of Ireland. ... The Taoiseach (IPA: or ) — plural: Taoisigh ( or ), also referred to as An Taoiseach[1], is the head of government of Ireland or prime minister. ... Patrick Bartholomew Bertie Ahern (Irish: ; born 12 September 1951) is an Irish politician who, since 26 June 1997, has served as the tenth Taoiseach. ...

The 2003 games were the first to have their opening and closing schemes broadcast on live television, and Radio Telefís Éireann provided extensive coverage of the events through their 'Voice of the Games' radio station which replaced RTÉ Radio 1 on Medium Wave for the duration of the event. There was also a nightly television highlight programme. Radio Telefís Éireann[1] (RTÉ; IPA: ,  ) is the Public Service Broadcaster of the Republic of Ireland. ... RTÉ Radio 1 is the principal radio channel of Irish public-service broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. ... Mediumwave radio transmissions (sometimes called Medium frequency or MF) are those between the frequencies of 300 kHz and 3000 kHz. ...

Among the activities carried out during the Games were thorough medical checks on the athletes, some of whom had previously undiagnosed conditions uncovered, as some of the athletes came from countries with limited medical facilities or had difficulty communicating their symptoms.

A daily newspaper, the Games Gazette was published for each day of the games.

Among the contributors to the Games was the Irish Prison Service. Prisoners in Mountjoy Prison, Midlands Prison, Wheatfield Prison and Arbour Hill Prison who constructed podiums and made flags, towels, signs, benches and other equipment. Mountjoy Prison is a closed medium security prison located in Dublin, Ireland. ...

Events

Athletes and coaches such as Lleyton Hewitt and his coach Roger Rasheed (Tennis); Severiano Ballesteros, Sandy Lyle and Andrew Marshall (Golf), Mick O'Dwyer (Gaelic football) and Brian Kerr (Soccer) met and encouraged athletes at events during the games. This article contains a trivia section. ... Roger Rasheed (born March 10, 1969) is an Australian sportsman and tennis coach of Lebanese descent. ... For other uses, see Tennis (disambiguation). ... Severiano Seve Ballesteros (born 9 April 1957) is a Spanish professional golfer and former World No. ... // Alexander Walter Barr Sandy Lyle, MBE (born February 9, 1958) is a Scottish golfer. ... Andrew Marshall can refer to: Andrew Marshall (writer) Andrew Marshall (foreign policy strategist) This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ... This article is about the sport. ... Mick ODwyer, (born 9 June 1936), is a former Irish Gaelic football manager and player from County Kerry. ... Gaelic football (Irish: Peil or Caid ), commonly referred to as football, Gaelic or GAA (gah), is a form of football played mainly in Ireland. ... This article refers to the former Republic of Ireland football team manager, there is also a current football player Brian Kerr. ... A player (wearing the red kit) has penetrated the defence (in the white kit) and is taking a shot at goal. ...

• Aquatics (swimming)
• Athletics (track and field)
• Badminton
• Basketball team
• Bocce
• Bowling
• Cycling
• Equestrian
• Football (soccer) team
• Golf
• Gymnastics (artistic)
• Gymnastics (rhythmic)
• Judo
• Kayaking
• MATP
• Pitch & putt
• Powerlifting
• Roller skating
• Sailing
• Table tennis
• Team handball
• Tennis
• Volleyball team

There are a large number of sports that involve water. ... A womens 400m hurdles race on a typical outdoor red rubber track. ... The Danish Olympic badminton player Peter Gade Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players (singles) or two opposing pairs (doubles), who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. ... Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by throwing a ball through a 10-foot high hoop (the basket) under organized rules. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A bowler releases the ball. ... Police officer on a bicycle Cycling is a recreation, a sport and a means of transport across land. ... A young rider at a horse show in Australia. ... A player (wearing the red kit) has penetrated the defence (in the white kit) and is taking a shot at goal. ... This article is about the sport. ... Gymnastics is a sport involving the performance of sequences of movements requiring physical strength, flexibility, balance, endurance, and kinesthetic awareness, such as handsprings, handstands, split leaps, aerials and cartwheels. ... Gymnastics is a sport involving the performance of sequences of movements requiring physical strength, flexibility, balance, endurance, and kinesthetic awareness, such as handsprings, handstands, split leaps, aerials and cartwheels. ... Judo ), meaning gentle way, is a modern Japanese martial art (gendai budō) and combat sport, that originated in Japan in the late nineteenth century. ... Sea Kayaking at Wilsons Promontory in Victoria, Australia Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. ... The Mid Atlantic Terascale Partnership (MATP) is a consortium cofounded by the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech to facilitate access to the National LambdaRail in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington DC. MATP members have NLR member network access rights through a license granted by the Virginia Tech Foundation. ... This article is about the sport. ... The bench press is one of the three events of powerlifting. ... “Roller Skater” redirects here. ... For either of the songs named Sailing, see Sailing (song). ... Jan-Ove Waldner Table tennis (also commonly known as ping-pong) is a game in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball back and forth to each other with bats (also sometimes called racquets or paddles). ... Handball player leaps towards the goal prior to throwing the ball, while the goalkeeper extends himself trying to stop it. ... For other uses, see Tennis (disambiguation). ... Volleyball is an Olympic sport in which two teams separated by a high net use their hands, arms or (rarely) other parts of their bodies to hit a ball back and forth over the net. ...

External links

• 2003 World Games official website
• Host Town list
• Special Olympics 2003 Results
• Irish Prison Service release on their inmates work for the Special Olympics
• Special Olympics Ireland website