ATHENS, July 4 -- Greece said goodbye on Monday evening to the "wonderful world of the winners" which unfolded in Athens since June 25 during the 2011 World Summer Special Olympics, with a moving closing ceremony staged at the Panathinaikon Stadium, sending the globe the message that the struggle for an international community that respects differences, continues.
At the marble venue that hosted the first modern Olympic Games in the 19th century, the Special Olympics flag was handed over to the Organizing Committee of the 2013 World Winter Games PyeongChang in South Korea, as thousands of enthusiastic Greek and foreign fans of the Games celebrated along the 7,000 athletes from 180 countries and regions who competed in Athens, thanking them for the hope and inspiration they offered to all people of the world.
"We hope you will never forget the faces of these athletes who teach us the way to our own personal victories," Special Olympics Chairman Timothy Shriver said, addressing the event which started with a parade of about 300 athletes, representing almost four million Special Olympics athletes with mental disabilities worldwide.
"We will never forget you," replied a British athlete on behalf of all Special Olympics champions who competed in Athens.
Shriver also praised the 25,000 volunteers who supported the Games, "showing the way to a better future" to debt-ridden Greece in times of difficulty, as well as the world.
"Greece proved that at the cradle of Olympism, there is always optimism and humanity. The smiles of these athletes are a motivation so that starting from tomorrow we will continue efforts for a new world with open doors and hearts," added Athens 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games Organizing President Joanna Despotopoulou, wishing best success to South Korea.
"When the world seems grey and small...when you are afraid to be different, listen to your heart and everything will miraculously change, everything is in our minds. When everything around you collapses, I will be there for you," sang Greek pop group Onirama, underlining the lyrics of a song they wrote for the Athens Games, launching the party which focused on the strength of children throughout history.
Among famous Greek artists, such as composer and songwriter Stamatis Kraounakis, who entertained the crowd with a traditional and modern music and dance show, was a music band of people with intellectual disabilities which drew loud applause.
Following the declaration of closing the Athens Games by City of Athens Mayor Yorgos Kaminis, the Special Olympics flag was lowered and passed over to the 2013 World Winter Games PyeongChang Organizing Committee by him and Despotopoulou, as South Korean artists took the floor for a show of folk and pop music and dance.
The number one girl pop music group in Asia, the South Korean "Wonder Girls", gave to Athens and the world a preview of the next Games, after the Flame of Hope which burnt for the Athens Special Olympics was extinguished and delegations, among them a 137-member Chinese delegation, prepared to return home.
Competing in the largest sports event of 2011, they showed that since its birth in 1968 the Special Olympics movement has come a long way, changing lives through sport and promoting acceptance for people with mental disabilities worldwide.