Unlike the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the World Games are not top-level or competitive events. All participants will be successful and have a real chance of winning a medal. There is no single winner in any sport.

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The main aim of the World Winter Games 2029 (WWG 2029) is to bring the worlds of people with and without disabilities closer together and enable them to live together – even beyond sport. But where do we stand today in Switzerland with this coexistence and what specific points should we address as part of the preparations for this wonderful sporting event?

On behalf of the WWG 2029 candidacy association, a basic study was carried out to investigate how the worlds of sport, living and work could be brought closer together. To this end, existing studies, statistical data and legal bases were compiled and supplemented by interviews with people with and without disabilities. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) served as a guideline.

This resulted in a study and a white paper. The study summarizes where we stand today with regard to the implementation of the UN CRPD. The white paper outlines in four overarching recommendations and eight specific proposals what can and should be achieved in the coming years up to the WWG 2029 – if we work together.
You can download the study and the white paper here.

The Beobachter also published a report on this topic on 3.12.2022 prepared by Daniel Benz, Birthe Homann and Lea Oetiker: “Equal rights – unconditionally and in all situations. Switzerland systematically excludes and hides people with disabilities. They will no longer put up with it.”

Special Olympics competitions or games are sporting events in which all participants should have a sense of achievement. Athletes in all sports are divided into homogeneous performance groups (divisions) based on known results or results achieved in a preliminary competition (divisioning).

Gender and age are only taken into account if there are a large number of participants. A performance group comprises a minimum of three and a maximum of eight athletes and medals are awarded in each individual division. The groups are put together in such a way that, despite possible differences in performance within a group, all participants have the chance to win a medal.

The World Winter Games in Switzerland will take place from March 10 to 17, 2029. This will bypass the winter sports vacation period in most Swiss cantons.

The 2029 World Winter Games were awarded to Switzerland by the Board of Special Olympics International in September 2023.

Special Olympics Switzerland and the SOSWI Graubünden support association founded the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for the 2029 World Winter Games in mid-November 2022 in the form of a non-profit association based in Chur. Special Olympics CEO Bruno Barth was elected as the first president of the LOC. In 2023, the organization was installed and Beat Ritschard was appointed General Secretary. The LOC will be operational from 2024.

Specialist advisory boards on various topics such as tourism, inclusion, sport, major events, sustainability, etc. will be formed around the LOC, which will bring in external expertise, initiate projects and ensure national networking.

A budget of CHF 38 million was drawn up for the 2029 World Winter Games in the bid – roughly the same amount as the Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympic Games. The financing concept envisages that around 75% of this will be borne by the federal government, the cantons of Graubünden and Zurich, the cities of Chur and Zurich and the regions of Arosa and Lenzerheide. These funds were finally approved with the adoption of the dispatch for the major sporting events by the Swiss parliament in the 2023 summer session, thereby securing the public law commitments.

The budget will be reviewed in 2024 with regard to the current situation and additional services and inflation expectations will be incorporated. The funding requirements for private financing will be determined on this basis.

The remaining funds are to be raised from commercial activities, and a corresponding marketing concept has already been developed. The aim of the LOC is to complete the main part of the private financing, the “Official Partner” category, by the end of 2025.