Welcome to Laureus

Zhao Xiaoyue, participant from the Special Olympics project in China.

 

What is your name and how old are you?

My name is Zhao Xiaoyue. I am a 19-year-old girl from China.

 

What is the name of you project?

I am a partner to Special Olympics athlete Piao Roubing in China. We played bocce together.

 

How did you find out about your project?

It is not simple to play Bocce. We have to do many practices, which require great patience and strong willpower. However, it also has a lot of fun. And I find that Bing-bing (as we call my partner Roubing) can often do much better than me, which really surprised me at first.

 

What do you enjoy most about your project?

It teaches me that winning is not the most important thing in a competition, as the experience can also inspire the participants to enjoy the time spent together with his or her partners. As for bocce, my experience teaches me that a winner does not merely have good luck as a bystander thinks. It requires a lot of thinking as well as skills to place the ball to a better place for more chances to win.

 

When did you join the project and how did you find out about it?

It's not long time for me to take part in the project, only about one year. At first, I thought I would take care of my partner, but I have actually learnt a lot from my partner too.

 

What have you learnt while you have been in the project?

It is not only "we" who help "them" (people with intellectual disabilities), but also we learn much from them, such as teamwork, purity and patience.

 

Since you have been involved in the project has there been a difference in the way you behave at home, school and with your friends?

I have become more caring and patient with my friends and classmates. When someone has a problem, I will not try to solve it for him or her, but to help him/her to solve the problem.

 

Who is your role model and why?

My role model is Mrs Wang Yanxia, mentor of Bing-bing, my partner. She is an amazing family leader at the Special Olympics. Bing-bing and I went to Shanghai for the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games with her. She always encouraged us to do better than required. Meanwhile, she is also the mother of a child with Down's Syndrome, who is also an excellent SO athlete. Her enthusiasm and positive attitude toward life has influenced me a lot.

 

Do you have a story that can tell us more about what the project means to you? A story that captures the project for you?

The project enables me to understand the meaning of SO movement more deeply. I now feel that the key is not to treat them as us, but to let them know that there are many things that they can accomplish better than us.

I remember clearly the first time when I attended the unified bocce competition. Before the competition began, all athletes were fully engaged in training. However, when the competition began, everyone started cheering for every shot, not only for their team-mates, but also for the other team. Every time when someone hit the central ball, they would let out a loud cry of "yeah!" It impressed me deeply, reminding me of the proverb, "Friendship comes first before the competition".

 

In your own words, what does the project do?

The project is to help people with intellectual disabilities to make friends with people without one, and make people without one to really understand what the ID people are and what they can achieve.

 

Why should other young people come to your project?

In fact, young people do not necessarily need to be sports fans to participate in the project. Everyone can learn something from participating the project and make friends with these lovely young people with ID.

 

What would you like to be in the future?

I wish to be a person who lives a simple life, doing what I really want to do rather than earning a lot of money. I would also like to be a volunteer for SO because people I meet here, compared with others, are purer and cleaner. Of course, I also want to live a fulfilled and colourful life with many interesting experiences.

 

What would you like to say to other young people around the world?

The meaning of life is not merely gaining. In fact, one may gain more when he or she wishes to give. The wealth one gains by giving may be intangible, but it will enrich one's thinking and living, although the impact may not be aware. Therefore, we young people should take every chance of public services, just as I was once told, "when you spread kindness, you will gather love".

Michael Johnson's place in sporting history was ensured at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 when he became the first man to win the 200 metres and 400 metres in the same Olympiad.  One of the most distinctive sprinters in the history of track and field with his powerful, upright stride pattern, Johnson was roared home by his enthusiastic American fans waving the Stars and Stripes. 

As if this was not enough, Laureus World Sports Academy member Johnson left his mark indelibly on the sport by also becoming the first man to win the 400 metres gold medal in consecutive Olympics - Atlanta and Sydney in 2000.  In total he won five Olympic gold medals and nine World Championship titles.

Not only was Johnson ultra competitive, he was blisteringly fast, as evidenced by the fact that his 200 metres world record of 19.32 secs, created in Atlanta, still stands today, as does the 400 metres world record of 43.18 secs, which he set in the Seville World Championships in 1999. 

Johnson, now 40, admits: "I am proud of the fact that for around ten years athletes have been trying to break my world records and they haven't managed it yet. Maybe someone will do it in the Beijing Olympics this summer.  I hope to be there whenever my records are broken. The pride in breaking the world records came from the journey and the accomplishment and not necessarily waking up every day now that I am retired and still holding those records. Sport has to move on and one day those records will be broken."

Throughout his career Johnson has always been a driven man.  He says: "I have always been motivated by making history. It has definitely been a part of my stimulation to be able to add to the list of things that I was the first to do.  Hard work, commitment, and dedication only got me so far. Along my journey I developed a platform for success that helped me to achieve the goals I set for myself.  I learned how to overcome obstacles.  I learned how to achieve my personal best while competing under tremendous pressure.

"My particular goal was to be the best athlete that I could possibly be, and that also happened to be the fastest man in the history of sprinting.  I believe that to be successful in anything an individual must start with a goal.  It was my goal that motivated me to train hard everyday and commit to the plan that I developed. 

"For the first half of my career it was all about winning. The second I was motivated by my own personal challenges, and those two world records were the last of those," added Johnson.

The qualities that characterised Johnson's drive to be the fastest man on the track have proved beneficial to the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation for whom Johnson has been a staunch supporter volunteering to visit various projects around the world.

Johnson says: "I always find a visit to a Laureus project is a moving experience.  I found one visit I made to Uganda very emotional where I saw for myself the work that is being done to help children that have suffered as a result of the HIV/Aids crisis which has been a tragedy for that country.

"When you come from the West, it is sometimes difficult to comprehend the problems that countries such as Uganda are having to face.  All the work that is going on takes time to have an affect on the situation, but I have been delighted to hear that at last the results appear to be encouraging.  The HIV infection rate among young people is beginning to reduce and that perhaps we are beginning to see positive signs. That's great news."

Some years ago Johnson also took part in a project visit to the Lu Jia Zui Special School in Pudong, near Shanghai, for children with special needs and found himself unexpectedly involved in a race against 400 metres hurdles double Olympic gold medallist Edwin Moses.  Cymbals crashed, balloons flapped in the wind as the children screamed with delight as the two great Laureus track legends raced against some of the youngsters from the school in their own playground.

"It was incredible fun.  I can't remember who won.  Let's say it was a dead heat.  Those are the kind of things that suddenly happen when you are working for Laureus," says Johnson.  Also present was Laureus Academy member Deng Yaping, China's Olympic gold medal star, widely acclaimed as the greatest female in table tennis history, who coached the youngsters.  "I'm not sure the kids quite understood what an honour that was, but the parents and the teachers certainly did," added Johnson.

The Laureus World Sports Academy members share the belief that sport can break down barriers and change the world for the better.  As Johnson explains: "During my career I learned much from realising my own potential to overcome obstacles.  That is what I explain to the young people I meet.  That is what Laureus is all about - using sport to make things happen." 

 

 

 

At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, a young California swimmer by the name of Mark Spitz became a sporting legend.  Confident and remarkably fast, Spitz made the pool his own and won seven gold medals in a single Olympiad.  No other athlete has ever achieved that feat.

When the Beijing Olympics opens, it will be 36 years since Laureus World Sports Academy member Spitz pushed the boundaries of individual achievement further than ever before. 

In just eight days he set seven world records and won seven gold medals, including one for the 100 metres freestyle, which was considered his weakest stroke.  His was an exploit that ranks with the greatest individual sporting stories of all time, and made him one of the greatest Olympians, putting him in the illustrious company of men such as Jesse Owens, Paavo Nurmi, Carl Lewis and Emil Zatopek.

Spitz, now 58, says: “I never thought at the time that what I was doing was historic. It was just a reaffirmation of what I had practised doing for three straight years, swimming the same events in the same order, over and over, repetitiously.  To be recognised as great is the culmination of a career, not a specific event.  In 17 of the last 20 finals I swam, I won in a world record time – the final seven in Munich's Olympic Pool.

”Part of winning is the phenomenon of being able to convince those that compete against you that they are competing for second.  If you are a golfer today, every time you go out there and Tiger Woods was in the field, you wouldn't be thinking about beating him, you'd be thinking about which of us is going to get second.  In my prime that was the situation in the pool.”

Spitz’s record has stayed inviolate for over three decades, but at last there is a challenger on the horizon.  American swimmer Michael Phelps came close to matching the magnificent seven in the Athens Olympics in 2004, when he won six gold medals, a feat which won him nomination for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award.  Now all eyes will be on whether he can go one better in Beijing.

Spitz says: “I think he really has a chance to break my record. I hope he does. It won’t take away from anything that I’ve done.  I had my day.  If he wins seven golds and ties what I did, then it would be like I was the first man on the moon and he became the second. If he wins more than seven, then he becomes the first man on Mars. We'd both be unique.  Life is true to form; records are meant to be broken.  It's a great opportunity for Michael, for swimming, for the Olympics.”

Of course there was a darker side to the Munich 1972 Olympics.  During the second week, a group of hooded men associated with an Arab political organization took several Israeli athletes hostage in the Olympic Village. They demanded that Israel release Palestinian prisoners in return. The stand-off ended tragically with a botched rescue attempt. The nine Israeli men died, as did several of the hostage takers. Spitz was forced to leave Munich earlier than planned because officials were worried about his safety.  As he recalls:  “The memories of Munich for me are of triumph and tragedy.”

In 1985 Spitz travelled to Israel to open the Maccabiah Games, lighting a torch along with three children of Israeli Olympians murdered in Munich.  In 2005, he was chosen to be the flag bearer for the U.S. delegation to the 17th Maccabiah Games.

Spitz retired after Munich because competitively there was nothing more he could do.  “Should I strive for eight gold medals in 1976?  That was the only challenge.  And that was ludicrous. I had actually nailed myself to the wall as a swimming competitor.''

People associate Spitz with the ultimate individual success in Olympic history, but he is at pains to point out that his accomplishment was in no small part driven by a failure four years earlier. 

“In 1968 I competed in the Olympic Games in Mexico City when I was 18 years and even though I won two individual medals, a silver and a bronze, I should have won a gold because I was the world record holder and I messed up. I didn't get embarrassed, but I was upset with myself, so I went back and trained for another four years real hard, and I went to Munich determined to do much better.

“At the Laureus World Sports Awards in St.Petersburg this February, I had the opportunity to go to a training session with a group of the best young swimmers in the city.  They were all very talented, and I was very impressed with them, but I told them no matter how good you are you can always improve with hard work and determination,” added Spitz.

NAIROBI, August 8, 2008 - Kenya's national football team, the Harambee Stars, have risen from 120th to 91st in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings following their draw with Malawi last month and their 2-0 wins over Zimbabwe.and Guinea in June.  And the news is being celebrated with particular enthusiasm at the Laureus-supported Mathare Youth Sports Association project near Nairobi, who trained 11 of the players in the 18-strong squad, as well as manager Peter Serry and head coach Francis Kimanzi.

The players are: Goalkeeper: Arnold Origi [FK Moss, Norway]. Defenders: Anthony Kimani [Mathare United]; Edgar Ochieng [Dhosar, Oman]. Midfielders: Austin  Makacha [Mathare United]; McDonald Mariga [Parma, Italy]; Titus Mulama [Vasteras, Sweden]; Kevin  Ochieng [El Shabab, Oman]; Monday Osborne [El Shabab, Oman].
Strikers: Denis Oliech [Auxerre, France].  Reserves: Lloyd Wahome [Mathare United]; Francis Ouma [Mathare United].
 
Mathare's most celebrated success is probably Dennis Oliech, who had a trial at Manchester United before going to play for Al-Arabi in Qatar.  He then moved to France where he first played for Nantes and is now in the Auxerre team.

Today MYSA has by far the largest youth football programme in Africa with over 18,000 players, aged 8-20, who play in 1,300 teams in over 100 leagues in 16 zones in the slums. 

Since joining the Kenyan Premier League in 1999, the Mathare United professional team consisting entirely of players from the Mathare slums has finished among the top four clubs for eight of those nine years. At the beginning of August they were at the top of the league this season.  Today every Premier League club in Kenya includes at least several MYSA graduates. 

There are over 50 MYSA youth and alumni who are working, studying and/or playing abroad in 14 different countries.  Another 11 MYSA players have played abroad, but returned to Kenya.  In addition, over the last 17 years, more than 1,200 MYSA youth have received passports and travelled abroad for international tournaments, events, conferences and youth exchanges, as well as serving as coaching instructors in over 20 different countries.

Laureus World Sports Academy member and England football legend Bobby Charlton said: "This is a tremendous success story for Mathare.  I have visited them several times and know what amazing work they do there, and it is wonderful to see the practical results of so much effort."

 JOHANNESBURG, July 27, 2008 - A record 50,000 South Africans put on their trainers to take part in the annual Discovery 702 Walk the Talk event in Johannesburg  which raised R375,000 (€33,000) for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation Trust South Africa.

Legendary Argentinean rugby player Hugo Porta joined fellow Laureus World Sports Academy member Morné du Plessis, Chairman of the South African Foundation, on the walk, along with South African Laureus Friends & Ambassadors Deshun Deysel,  Frankie Fredericks, Baby Jake Matlala, John Moeti and Lucas Radebe.

Laureus was the official charity for this year's event and received a R10 donation for every 5km and 8km completed by competitors. The more serious walkers completed up to 30km, but many enjoyed taking part over a shorter distance.  Discovery is the patron of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation Trust in South Africa.

Just 24 hours earlier Laureus announced its support to one of its newest projects in South Africa - the Soweto Schools Rugby Project in the amount of R300,000 (€26,000).  Former Springbok manager Morné du Plessis made the announcement and Hugo Porta, Deshun Deysel, Frankie Fredericks and John Moeti were also present, as was wheelchair race legend Ernst van Dyk.  After the announcement, Soweto teams and their counterparts from Greenside, the Pirates Rugby Club played in a mini rugby festival.

Morné du Plessis told the youngsters that they would not go wrong if they adopted former President Nelson Mandela's belief that ‘sport has the power to change the world'. He said: "Success in life takes a lot of hard work and is never easy."  He also welcomed Hugo Porta to Soweto.  "Hugo is a regular visitor to our shores and we are delighted that he now joins us in South Africa.  As a great rugby player, we will value the great input and advice he will afford us within the Soweto Schools Rugby Project."

Dali Ndebele said the money would be used to expand the club's life skills programme for children in the sprawling township.  "Our aim is to make a difference in the community and such donations from Laureus will add momentum towards our efforts to give children in Soweto a better life," he said.

LINZ, AUSTRIA, June 13, 2008 – A football team from the Laureus supported It’s A Goal! project from Northern England has made their first overseas trip to take part inthe European Association for Sport & Social Integration(EASI)  Cup in Linz, a competition open to organisations which work in mental health.  Staged by the EASI, teams from Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Slovakia and the United Kingdom took part.

‘It’s a Goal’, based in Manchester fights depression in young adults.  By creating a non-clinical programme based around football and operated from a football stadium, the project aims to appeal to hard-to-reach groups who are reluctant to seek help.  The first unit was established at Macclesfield Town in 2003, and a second unit was opened at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United in 2006. More recently the project has expanded to Plymouth Argyle and Stockport County.

 The project has been actively endorsed by Laureus World Sports Academy member and England and Manchester United football legend Bobby Charlton.  He said: “I am a great believer that football can act as a force for good in helping these young people to fight depression.  I was delighted to hear that It’s a Goal! has taken its first steps in Europe.”

The nine strong squad led by manager Pete Sayers were drawn in a tough group, losing 5-0 to Hackney, one of the pre-tournament favourites, drawing 0-0 with Landsberg, before beating Austrian side Grieskirchen 2-0 with goals from Andy Mulley and Alan Pringle.  It’s A Goal! failed to qualify for the final stages by just one goal, however they did win two games, against Regenbogen Munchen and Red Cross Kickers, in the runners-up group.

Sayers said: ‘It was wonderful to see guys who only a short time before were in desperate situations with their mental health issues leading lonely, miserable existences, come alive with enthusiasm, making new friends and enjoying the competition.  The true ethos of EASI and Laureus was played out through fair play.”

Even in a materially affluent society like the United Kingdom, depression is a serious problem. The number of prescriptions for anti-depressants in England and Wales has more than doubled from 10.8 million in 1993 to almost 30 million.  An estimated two million people in Britain are taking such drugs, including over 100,000 children. In extreme cases depression can result in suicide, particularly amongst males in the 16-34 age group.

LONDON, July 22, 2008 – Golf legend and Laureus World Sports Academy member Severiano Ballesteros, writing exclusively for www.laureus.com, says he believes Padraig Harrington’s victory in the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale demonstrates the current strength of European golf.

Ballesteros, winner of three Open Championships and two Masters titles, says Harrington thoroughly deserved his second victory in two years.  His comments include:

• On Padraig Harrington: “Over the four days he was the man hitting the ball the best and had the toughest mental approach.  He thoroughly deserved to win.”

• On Harrington’s victory: “With the Ryder Cup just two months away, it is another reminder of the strength of European golf at the moment.”

• On The Open: “The rough weather may have affected the quality of the golf, but it did not affect the excitement.  We had a thrilling Championship with a great winner.”

• On Camilo Villegas: “His 65 on Friday was the most exciting round of the whole week.  He finished with five birdies – something I would have been proud of.”

• On Chris Wood: “At Birkdale there is a tradition of young players emerging. I thought he showed tremendous composure. I will be watching his progress in the future.”