Until July 1st, there was still a bit of trembling announced, but since that day it has been fixed: On August 20th, around 80 athletes from 14 nations will fight for World Cup medals in the casemates on the Graz Schlossberg. “Special Olympics International wanted to wait until June 30 to see how the COVID-19 situation in Austria would develop. Since July 1st we have finally known: The World Dance Championship is secured and can take place on August 20th, ”explains Pierre Gider, Head of the Organizing Committee and also Global Advisor for Dancing at Special Olympics. Now it is exactly one month until the big, international event, the preparations are clearly in full swing. On August 18th, the dance athletes arrive in Graz with their trainers and families. The next day they will not only be able to complete their last training sessions, but also officially at the reception of the governor Herman Schuetzenhofer and mayor Siegfried Rush welcomed. August 20 is finally the day for the history books: For the first time in the long history of Special Olympics, world championship medals will be awarded in a sport. Divisioning starts at 14 p.m., the finals at 18 p.m. - ORF Sport plus will broadcast live from 17.55:XNUMX p.m. “To date there has never been a World Championship at the Special Olympics. We are of course proud that we dance athletes are allowed to hold this premiere, especially in Graz, ”emphasizes Gider.

That there is even a world championship is entirely Gider's "fault". The dance teacher, himself multiple Austrian master in dance sport and chairman of the Styrian Dance Teachers Association, has also been working for Special Olympics for many years. As Chair of Special Olympics Dancing, he was instrumental in ensuring that dance became an official discipline at Special Olympics in 2019. “But we won't be included in the sporting program until the World Winter Games 2025. This waiting time was far too long for me, so I had the idea of ​​not just hosting a major international tournament, but a world championship, ”says the Voitsberger. In the summer of 2019 he was in New York when he was at Mary Davis, CEO of Special Olympics, requested an appointment. A few hours later he got on the train and drove to Washington. There he presented his plans for a world championship to Davis - and promptly got the OK.

Believing that this premiere would probably take place in the USA, he got into conversation with the Graz city councilor a few months later Kurt Hohensinner. “This encouraged me to hold this big world premiere in Graz. And then one made the other. Now the state capital is the scene of the first world championship, so four years after the World Games in Styria we are again setting an international exclamation mark, ”said Gider, who believes that there will be a few more Special Olympics world championships. The next World Dance Championships should definitely take place in 2023 (possibly in the USA), and World Cup medals could also be awarded in other sports like tennis in the future.

14 nations are taking part, tickets are already available

Graz will be in the international spotlight on August 20th, around 80 athletes from 14 nations will then perform their impressive shows in four categories (solo, duo, couple and team) and inspire the audience. “The dance sport is ideal for people with intellectual disabilities because they enjoy moving around to music. In addition, dancing is equally popular everywhere and represented in every culture. Therefore, the audience can look forward to a great show, ”explains Gider.

Almost 1.000 tickets are available for the final and also for the divisioning (division into performance classes) before, since July 5th, the tickets can be over www.ticketzentrum.at  be ordered. The tickets are basically free, only a small online booking fee has to be paid.

All information about the 1st Special Olympics Dance Sport World Championships is available at www.graz2021.org.

Photo: GEPA pictures / Special Olympics