The Sanitas Foundation announces its first Inclusive Games, to be held in Madrid in 2020.
To celebrate ten years of promoting inclusive sports, the Sanitas Foundation, together with the Spanish Paralympic Committee and the Spanish Olympic Committee, announced the first ever Inclusive Games, which will be held in Madrid in 2020.
Iñaki Ereño, CEO of Bupa’s Europe and Latin America Market Unit, was joined by the presidents of both committees. Together, they lit the Inclusive Games flame at a gala event that celebrated ten years since the Sanitas Foundation first launched inclusive sports week in Spain. The Sanitas Foundation, established by Sanitas, Bupa’s business in Spain, was founded in 1996 to promote health and wellbeing. It has since been focused on encouraging both children and adults, with and without disabilities, to practise sports together.
This year, Inclusive Sports Week was held in early October. The week focused on education and awareness on topics such as; women, sports and inclusion.
Sanitas Foundation Awards and Manifesto
The Gala took place at Teatro Real, Madrid, and was hosted with the aim of recognising the contribution of people and institutions that have worked together to promote inclusive sports over the past decade. Awards were given in categories of research, competition, training, athletes, sports management and achievement. This year’s winners included football star Emilio Butragueño and Paralympian Loida Zabala.
During the event, the Manifesto for Inclusive Sports was signed by all twenty-six members of the Alliance for Inclusive Sport, to reinforce their commitment to boosting social inclusion through sports.
The first Inclusive Mile
The week culminated with the first Inclusive Mile, where more than 50 athletes, sportspeople and personalities were divided into teams to compete against each other. The competitors ran one mile through the Plaza de Oriente, Madrid, to show the public that people with and without disabilities competing together is now a reality. These milestones achieved throughout the week were celebrated together with a total of 250 people, with representatives from federations and institutions, education, sports and well-known personalities, who have made the progress in the past ten years possible.
Yolanda Erburu, General Manager for the Sanitas Foundation said: “The future of sport should have no constraints, anyone can participate in sports regardless of their abilities. Inclusive sports has become a reality thanks to the collaborative work and dedication over the past 10 years, which we have celebrated here at Inclusive Sports week.”
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