VII GAY ΑΓΩΝΕΣ, ΣΙΚΑΓΟ 2006

.
From 15-22 July 2006, Chicago will play host to the world and welcome thousands of athletes, spectators and cultural participants into our homes, our hearts and our city for the seventh quadrennial Gay Games Sports and Cultural Festival. The Games will feature 12,000 participants, competition in 30 sports, world-class athletes and artists, band and choral performances, nightly medal ceremonies, a week-long arts festival, parties, and spectacular opening and closing ceremonies featuring entertainment, pageantry, and the parade of participants from more than 70 countries.
The Gay Games are open to anyone. There are no qualifying events, no minimum or maximum requirements, and no mandatory affiliations. The Games are built on the founding principles of Participation, Inclusion, and Personal Best, and promote a supportive environment, free from bigotry, where participants achieve success by their own measure. More than a tournament or cultural program, the Gay Games is a gathering of the international sports and arts community that changes lives, attitudes, and the very nature of competition.
In 1982, Dr. Tom Waddell, a 1968 Olympic decathlete, founded the Games primarily to showcase LGBT sports, describing it as "an experiment in global unity; an experiment in education; a vehicle for change." Since that time nearly 50,000 individuals of different races, genders, sexual orientations, national origin, physical and athletic abilities, health statuses, ages, religious and socio-economic backgrounds have come together from around the world in the spirit of Participation, Inclusion and Personal Best. For 25 years, these values have helped to foster an international LGBT sports movement that builds bridges across borders, eradicates stereotypes, and truly changes the world. If you are a recreational or master athlete, an emerging or acclaimed artist, physically challenged, young or old, near or far, LGBT or heterosexual, you are invited to join us in Chicago for a week of friendship, open expression, and global community.
This will be a Gay Games for the ages. The sports and cultural components will be directed by experts in their fields, the tournaments and performances will be professionally organized, the competition and culture will be top flight, and the events will be held at world-class facilities sure to bring out your personal best. Most activities will be bundled into four sports villages to maximize convenience and to foster camaraderie and support among participants. The villages, easily accessible by public transportation, are built around some of Chicago's most stunning recreational, cultural, and historic centers.

When you enter Soldier Field on Saturday, 15 July 2006, and bask in the emotion of our Opening Ceremony, you will begin to understand the passion that drives the Gay Games. Throughout the next 8 days, whether you take home a Gold, Silver, Bronze or Participation Medal, or simply come to support your friends and colleagues in their own dreams, you will have memories of a lifetime, and mark your place in the 25-year legacy of the Gay Games.

After all, our slogan is really the slogan of every Gay Games past and into the future - the Gay Games are truly "Where the World Meets."

(Αναδημοσίευση από το επίσημο site των αγώνων)