India’s Special Olympics Bharat team for athletes with intellectual disabilities left for Sweden on Friday, July 10, to defend its Special Olympics Trophy title at the Gothia Cup 2026. Playing for the first time in 2024, the team clinched the title in successive years and now attempts to become the first side to win the competition three years in succession.
The tournament will be held in Gothenburg from July 12 to 18, with India entering as one of the favourites. The contingent comprises 10 athletes and two coaches representing nine states and Union Territories. Notably, the players were selected after a four-day national qualifying tournament at the Centre for Defence Sports in Gwalior in April, where more than 150 athletes from 16 states competed. Those shortlisted later attended multiple national training camps before the final squad was finalised.
Ahead of their departure, the squad was given a send-off at the Embassy of Sweden in New Delhi, where Sweden’s Ambassador to India, Jan Thesleff, praised the team’s achievements.
โGothia Cup is the biggest tournament and two times in a row this team has won, these players are really the champions and ambassadors. They are the pride of India and also the pride of Sweden,โ Thesleff told the media.ย
How are theย players recruited?
Coach Onaciss Madavadasse, in the meantime, shared that working with athletes with intellectual disabilities required a distinct communication approach during both training sessions and matches. He also highlighted that the training programme progressed in phases before the final team was selected.
โWe had the matches in Gwalior. In the first camp, we focused on individual skills, in the second camp we focused on coordinating within the team and in the third one we added coordinating with the opponents, and then we picked the players on that basis,โ Onaciss told the media.ย
โSome of these guys don’t speak. We try to train them through actions and sign language. It is definitely not easy (to communicate). We try to communicate with the eyes. During the matches, there are no different languages, there is only sign language that we use,โ he added.ย
The Special Olympics Bharat team is supported by SKF India (Industrial). They have supported athlete selection, training and international participation over the past three years. The company has also been associated with the Gothia Cup and Special Olympics globally.
Founded in 1975, the Gothia Cup is held annually in Gothenburg and brings together more than 1,900 teams from over 70 countries. The Special Olympics Trophy has been part of the tournament since 2011 for athletes with intellectual disabilities.
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