![]() | |
Founded | 1986 |
---|---|
Type | Not for Profit Organisation for Intellectual Disability |
Focus | Sport, disability |
Location |
|
Area served | Worldwide |
Members | c. 500,000 |
Key people | President — Marc Truffaut (France) Executive Director — Nick Parr (UK) |
Website | https://www.virtus.sport/ |
Formerly called | INAS-FID, INAS-FMH |
Member of International Paralympic Committee |
Virtus Sport (formerly INAS or INAS Sport) (International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability; originally called INAS-FMH, later INAS-FID, INAS and now as Virtus Sport) is a federation which was established in 1986 by professionals in the Netherlands who were involved in sport and wanted to promote the participation of athletes with mental handicap in elite sports (intellectual impairment).
The organisations brand name is the Virtus promoting sport worldwide for athletes with intellectual disability, autism and Down syndrome.[1]
Names
[edit]- INAS-FMH :1986-1994
- INAS-FID - International Sports Federation for Persons with an Intellectual Disability (INAS-FID): 1994-?
- INAS - International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability: ? - 2019
- Virtus Sport: 2019-present
History
[edit]The founding meeting of the first Executive Committee took place in January 1986 and the organisation became a member of the ICC – the International Coordinating Committee – the organisation that later became the International Paralympic Committee.
INAS' original membership was just 14 nations which has steadily grown into c.80 nations today.
In 1989, the 1st World Games for Athletes with an Intellectual Disability were held in Harnosand, Sweden and in 1992, immediately after the Barcelona Paralympic Games, the first Paralympic Games for 'Persons with mental handicap' were held in Madrid.[2]
In 1994, INAS-FMH became INAS-FID – the 'International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability' and in 1996, for the first time, a small programme of events for athletes with an intellectual disability was included in the Paralympic Games in Atlanta.
A larger programme including Athletics, Swimming and Basketball was included in the Sydney Paralympic Games in 2000, but it soon emerged that a small number of athletes had cheated the system of determining eligibility, resulting in the suspension of events — a suspension that was to remain in place until 2012.
Despite exclusion from the Paralympic Games, the Inas sport programme continued to grow considerably to incorporate more than 10 sports whilst its membership grew to cover all 5 continents.
INAS provides competition opportunities for elite athletes with an intellectual disability in Paralympic and non-Paralympic sports and is different from Special Olympics, which provides non-elite opportunities worldwide.
Eligibility and classification
[edit]Athletes with an intellectual disability are characterised by an IQ of 75 or below, significant limitations in Adaptive Behaviour and the disability must be present before the age of 18. This is based on the American Association for Intellectual and Developmental Disability definition of Intellectual Disability.
Approximately 1.5% of the population is thought to have an intellectual disability.
Recognized Sports
[edit]Sports:[3]
Core Sports
[edit]- Athletics
- Basketball
- Cricket
- Cycling
- Equestrian
- Football/Futsal
- Judo
- Rowing
- Skiing
- Swimming
- Table Tennis
- Tennis
Partnerships With International Federations
[edit]- Golf
- Karate
- Para-Hockey
- Sailing
- Taekwondo
Current activities
[edit]Today's sport programme includes some 15 annual events, and more than 4000 athletes are registered to compete at an international level, whilst many hundreds of thousands of people with an intellectual disability have the opportunity to enjoy sport through the work of member organisations.
Following a partnership between INAS and the International Paralympic Committee to overhaul the process of determining athlete eligibility, events for athletes with an intellectual disability were re-instated to the Paralympic programme by the IPC General Assembly in November 2009, in preparation for the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
In 2019, INAS rebranded as Virtus.
-
Portugal,
-
podium, 2024
Events
[edit]INAS World Championships
[edit]- Main article : INAS World Championships[4]
Note : INAS do not organise events in Taekwondo but work in partnership with World Taekwondo World Para Taekwondo Championships.
- Source :
- http://www.inas.org/events/results Archived 24 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine
- http://www.inas.org/events Archived 26 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine
INAS Global Games
[edit]- Main article : INAS Global Games[5]
In 2004 INAS launched a new multi-sport competition INAS Global Games (INAS World Games / Intellectual Disability Global Games). The first event took place in Bollnäs, Sweden and featured more than 1000 athletes. The second Global Games took place in Czech Republic in 2009. With the re-inclusion of athletes with an intellectual disability into Paralympic competition, it was decided to move the Global Games to the year preceding the Paralympics. The next Global Games therefore takes place in 2011. After a bidding procedure, Italy was chosen as the host nation. The 2015 Global Games took place in Guayaquil, Ecuador, in September. The 2019 INAS Global Games will take place in Brisbane, Queensland Australia.[6]
No. | Year | Dates | City and host country | Champion | Sports | Events | Countries |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2004 | July | ![]() |
![]() |
6 | 40 | |
2 | 2009 | 7 - 11 June | ![]() |
![]() |
9 | 34 | |
3 | 2011 | 26 September - 4 October | ![]() |
![]() |
9 | 30 | |
4 | 2015 | 20 - 27 September | ![]() |
![]() |
8 | 35 | |
5 | 2019 | 12–19 October | ![]() |
![]() |
11 |
Results : http://www.inas.org/events/results Archived 24 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine
2023: https://www.virtus.sport/2023-vichy-france
900 athletes from 47 nations
Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Peru, and the Solomon Islands = debut
13 sports
athletics, basketball, cycling, equestrian, futsal, handball, judo, karate, rowing, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, and tennis.
Karate, judo, and equestrian = debut at GG2023
France 189 medals (88 gold, 56 silver and 45 bronze)
Australia with 125 medals (42 gold, 41 silver and 42 bronze)
Italy with 87 medals (30 gold, 27 silver and 30 bronze)
Results 2023: https://c3k8ff.n3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Results-GG2023.pdf
Regional Games
[edit]European Championships
[edit]Members (28 nations in 2019):[13]
Sports:[14]
Euro Web:[15]
- Athletics: [16]
- Swimming: [17]
- Futsal/Football : [18]
- Basketball: [19]
- Handball: [20]
- Table Tennis: [21]
- Other Sports (Cycling,Rowing,Judo,Skiing,Tennis,Equestrian): [22]
INAS European Games
[edit]- Main article : INAS European Games
No. | Year | Dates | City and host country | Champion | Sports | Events | Countries |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2018 | 14 - 22 July | ![]() |
7 + 2 | TBD | ||
2 | 2022 | ![]() |
TBD |
Results: http://www.inas.org/event/2018-inas-european-games?instance_id=76 Archived 28 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine
https://web.archive.org/web/20191221125831/http://www.inaseurope.org/index.html
1st Virtus European Winter Games, Zakopane 2024 (2020 was cancelled)
http://www.virtuseurope.eu/other-sports.html
http://www.virtuseurope.eu/synthesis.html
http://www.virtuseurope.eu/athletics.html
http://www.virtuseurope.eu/swimming.html
http://www.virtuseurope.eu/index.html
1st European Winter Games (skiing, rowing, futsal, basketball 3x3) 2 March - 8 March 2024 Zakopane (Poland)
INAS Asia-Pacific Games
[edit]1st Virtus Oceania Asia Games 2022, 5-11 November (OA Games) - Australia [23]
Inaugural Virtus Oceania Asia Games:
Sports:[24]
- Athletics - Paralympic Pathway
- Badminton - Demonstration Sport
- Basketball
- Cycling - Track & Road Cycling
- Judo
- Rowing - On-Water & Indoor Rowing
- Sailing - Para Sailing International Championship
- Swimming - Paralympic Pathway
- Table Tennis - Paralympic Pathway
- Taekwondo
- Triathlon - Demonstration Sport
Nations:[25]
20 countries:
Australia Brazil Colombia Ecuador Fiji France (including Wallis & Futuna, New Caledonia) Hong Kong India Indonesia Islamic Republic of Iran Japan Macau Malaysia Maldives New Zealand Republic of Palau Papua New Guinea Philippines Republic of Korea Singapore Chinese Taipei Thailand Great Britain United States of America
Events:[26]
Medals:[27]
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() | 94 | 83 | 43 | 220 |
2 | ![]() | 25 | 13 | 15 | 53 |
3 | ![]() | 9 | 17 | 7 | 33 |
4 | ![]() | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
5 | ![]() | 4 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
6 | ![]() | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
7 | ![]() | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
8 | ![]() | 1 | 5 | 5 | 11 |
9 | ![]() | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
10 | ![]() | 1 | 2 | 8 | 11 |
11 | ![]() | 1 | 2 | 7 | 10 |
12 | ![]() | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
13 | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
14 | ![]() | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
![]() | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Totals (15 entries) | 146 | 132 | 100 | 378 |
Solomon Islands = one silver
Republic of Palau = no medal
INAS African Games
[edit]No Yet.
INAS Pan American Games
[edit]2026 in Peru , Inaugural 2026 Virtus Americas Regional Games [28]
See also
[edit]- Special Olympics
- Sports Union for athletes with Down Syndrome (SUDS)
- International Athletics Association for Persons with Down Syndrome
- Trisome Games
- International Dwarf Sports Federation
- International Blind Sports Federation
- International Committee of Sports for the Deaf
- World Abilitysport
- International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS)
- Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CPISRA)
- International Sports Federation of the Disabled (ISOD)
- International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation (ISMGF)
- International Sports Federation of the Disabled (ISOD)
References
[edit]- ^ "High performance sport for athletes with an intellectual impairment". inas.org. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
- ^ DePauw, Karen P; Rich, Sarah (Winter 1993). "Paralympics for the mentally handicapped". Palaestra. Vol. 9, no. 2. pp. 59–64.
- ^ https://www.virtus.sport/sports
- ^ "Events and competitions for athletes with an intellectual impairment". inas.org. Archived from the original on 26 November 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
- ^ "International Federation for Intellectual Impairment Sport: Global Games". inas.org. Archived from the original on 14 November 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
- ^ "Inas Global Games 2019". www.inasglobalgames.org. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
- ^ https://www.virtus.sport/regional-games
- ^ http://www.virtuseurope.eu/
- ^ http://www.virtuseurope.eu/synthesis.html
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20240000000000*/http://www.inaseurope.org/index.html
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20240000000000*/http://www.virtuseurope.eu/
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20210612133104/http://www.virtuseurope.eu/
- ^ http://www.virtuseurope.eu/members.html
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20210422114931/http://www.virtuseurope.eu/sports.html
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20220723200734/http://www.virtuseurope.eu/
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20220723200335/http://www.virtuseurope.eu/athletics.html
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20220723200343/http://www.virtuseurope.eu/swimming.html
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20220723200345/http://www.virtuseurope.eu/futsal-football.html
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20220723200343/http://www.virtuseurope.eu/basketball.html
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20220723200344/http://www.virtuseurope.eu/handball.html
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20220723200344/http://www.virtuseurope.eu/table-tennis.html
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20220723200343/http://www.virtuseurope.eu/other-sports.html
- ^ https://oagames2022.org/
- ^ https://oagames2022.org/sports/
- ^ https://oagames2022.org/the-countries/
- ^ https://oagames2022.org/event-schedule/
- ^ https://oagames2022.org/medal-tally/
- ^ https://www.virtus.sport/peru-to-host-inaugural-2026-virtus-americas-regional-games