LOS ANGELES — A top player on Kenya’s beach volleyball team here at the Special Olympics has no intellectual disability, yet he helped lead Kenya into the medal round this week at the World Games. He played volleyball in high school, expects to play in college and his mother, manager of Kenya’s Special Olympics program, added him to the team roster.
It is not a scandal.
Is is part of Unified Sports, a program gaining popularity not only in the Special Olympics but across the special-needs community. Athletes who have intellectual disabilities compete with Unified partners, athletes who don’t have disabilities.