An 80-member contingent of the Special Olympics of Bangladesh will participate in the 2015 Special Olympics Summer World Games to be held in Los Angels, USA from July 25 to August 2.
The Bangladesh contingent which comprises 57 players, 20 coaches and three officials will leave the capital for the USA by a Singapore Airlines flight on July 21 under the leadership of National Director cum Head of the Delegation Faruqul Islam.
Bangladesh will compete in six of the 25 disciplines of sports in the Games — Aquatics, Athletics, Badminton, Bocce, Football and Table Tennis.
First Lady of the United States and Co-chairman of the Special Olympics Summer World Michelle Obama will be the chief guest in the opening ceremony at the Olympic Stadium in Los Angels on July 25.
Some 7,000 athletes and 3,000 coaches from 170 countries of the world are expected to participate in the games at eight venues.
Chairman of Special Olympics, Bangladesh Dr Shamim Motin Chowdhury disclosed these at a press conference at the Dutch-Bangla auditorium of Bangladesh Olympic Association on Monday.
Founder Chairman of Special Olympics, Bangladesh Ashraf Dowla and Head of Bangladesh delegation Faruqul Islam also spoke on the occasion.
Ahead of the Special World Games, Bangladesh will also take part in the “Host Town” programme for the participating countries scheduled for July 22-24.
Bangladesh team will stay in the Westchester town of California for two days under the “Host Town” programme and will participate in the local functions.
Bangladesh team, now undergoing training at BKSP in Savar for three and half months, in two phases, expects 15 gold medals from the World Games.
Bangladesh Special Olympic team brought laurel for the country by earning a huge number of gold medals since its journey in 1994.
Bangladesh got 35 gold, 14 silver and seven bronze medals in the Asia Pacific Games held in New Castle, Australia in 2013.
