Chinese basketball icon, Houston Rockets player, and Special Olympics Global Ambassador Yao Ming participated in a sports skills clinic in China this past weekend. He worked on game fundamentals with twenty children with disabilities from a local special education school. And despite still recovering from an injured ankle he demonstrated a layup to these fans!
Unified Sports is an exciting part of Special Olympics that brings together athletes with and without intellectual disabilities on the same court, field, pitch, pool, rink, etc. Through Unified Sports, Special Olympics athletes and partners work together to sharpen their skills and further support the mission of inclusion and acceptance for people with intellectual disabilities. Unity Sports is a one time event that is an exhibition of the Unified Sports initiative and will be a new element of the World Games this year. Professional and Olympic athletes and celebrities partners will be in Athens to participate and play alongside Special Olympics in Unity Sports events throughout the World Games.
Yao Ming will be traveling to Athens along with Dikembe Mutombo, Sam Perkins and Vlade Divac to participate in a Unity Sports basketball game. Stay tuned on twitter and our blog for updates of the Unity Sports events to learn more about the exciting guests who will be participating!
By the way, did you know Yao Ming is the tallest player in the NBA at a whopping 7’6?!
Here are some highlights from the event:
I like Yao Ming! He is not only a talented basketball player but also has a big heart! I am glad Special Olympics use well known people like Yao Ming to promote charity for people with disability around the world. I hope you have got rid of that Chinese woman as face of Special Olympics. It is a shame that she exploited national disaster for personal gain!