Special Olympics allows for the largest range of participants and sporting events (i.e. bowling, softball, roller skating), as opposed to IPC and INAS-FID focusing only on Olympic events and disciplines. 

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Although they both allow people with disabilities to participate and compete in athletics, paralympics is focused on elite sports and skills while Special Olympics is mainly focused on using the power of sport to unite people with intellectual disabilities and all athletes to promote de-stigmatization. 

Special Olympics vs. Paralympics

Elise Lantz & Anne Marcellini (2018) Sports games for people with intellectual disabilities. Institutional analysis of an unusual international configuration, Sport in Society, 21:4, 635-648, DOI: 10.1080/17430437.2016.1273612

Sports and Intellectual Disabilities

Comparison Between Special Olympics, IPC, and INAS-FID

The first Paralympic Games that invited athletes with intellectual disabilities, in addition to those with other impairments, such as motor or visual (118/4200 athletes were athletes with ID). 

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