Abu Dhabi bid goodbye to the 15th Special Olympic World Summer Games, the first of its kind held in the Middle East, with the Special Olympics (SO) Bharat contingent winning an astounding 368 medals including 85 gold, 154 silver and 129 bronze.
It's a record haul for the country which fielded a 284-member team.
Global superstar Nicole Scherzinger performed at the closing ceremony on Thursday night with her latest song "Victorious" written especially for the Special Olympics World Games. Timothy Shriver, Chairman of the Special Olympics, also stepped on the stage, reports Xinhua news agency.
"Life is tough, sometimes, the world can seem cruel," Shriver said to the athletes. "So be tough, be tougher than the tough, be stronger than the strong, be you, and be free."
Representatives of 20,000 volunteers standing on the middle stage, received cheers from the whole Zayed Sports City, as their hard work led to the successful staging of the event.
The whole stadium was glued to the big screen where a World Games Abu Dhabi Legacy film was showing. Different parts of the film titled "emotion", "confidence", "harvest" and so on, demonstrated the bravery, tears and smiles of the athletes in the last seven days.
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"Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt." The voice of Special Olympics founder, Timothy Shriver's mother Eunice Kennedy Shriver echoed in the stadium, followed by the music video for the official song of the Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019, "Right Where I'm Supposed To Be."
Representatives from the UAE and Sweden joined in the hand over of the Special Olympics flag to Sweden where the 2021 Special Olympics World Winter Games will be held.
The sky was lit by fireworks and the song "This is Me" sung by Keala Settle put an amazing end to the ceremony.
The 2019 Special Olympic World Summer Games witnessed recording-breaking 200 delegations gathering to be part of the event. Approximately 7,500 athletes participated in 24 sports with the assistance of 3,000 coaches.
This is the ninth time for China to send a delegation to the summer Special Olympics World Games. 104 athletes took part in 10 sports including athletics, swimming and football and brought home 60 gold, 61 silver and 37 bronze medals, along with friendship and confidence.
This is also the tournament with the most number of female athletes participating. More than 2,500 women joined in the games including the first-ever 14 female athletes sent to the event by Saudi Arabia.
--IANS
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