SAS supports the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games

SAS, the world’s largest privately owned software company, will sponsor the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games, which will be held in Ireland in June. It will mark the first time that the event has been held outside the United States.

The games, held every four years, will be the largest sporting event in the world in 2003. Founded in 1968, Special Olympics gives people with mental disabilities the opportunity to participate in a year-round sports training and competition program. SAS’ sponsorship will help support the 7,000 Special Olympics athletes, 3,000 coaches and 28,000 family members from 160 international delegations who will gather in Ireland in June 2003.

In addition to financial support for the games, SAS will provide and support a database containing information on each athlete participating in the games. The database will be accessible to anyone with a Web browser and will enable searches by name, program or sport. It will contain profiles of athletes and coaches in each of the World Games’ 18 official summer sports and demonstration sports. As well as offering instant access to athlete information to those who are unable to attend the event, the application will be widely used by both the national and international media covering the event. This application was developed by SAS to support the 1999 Special Olympics World Games, which were held in North Carolina near SAS’ world headquarters. It will be updated to include the latest technology available from SAS.

“The best way to understand the Special Olympics movement is to learn more about the athletes, and that’s what the participant database is all about,” said Mary Davis, 2003 World Games CEO. “It makes all that information easily available and tells the true story of the Special Olympics movement. We are truly grateful to SAS for providing this key resource.”

"We are excited to be supporting the 2003 Special Olympics World Games in Ireland,” said Dr. Jim Goodnight, president and CEO of SAS. “The athletes have so much to be proud of, and if SAS can help convey their exhilaration and wonderful sense of achievement and self-fulfillment through the participant database, then we are indeed honoured."

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