Virtus Global Games
The Virtus Global Games are the pinnacle elite sports event for athletes with an intellectual impairment in the world. They take place every four years, in the preceding year to the Paralympic Games.
Around 1000 athletes from around the world compete for medals in sports including athletics, swimming, table tennis, rowing, basketball, futsal, tennis, taekwondo, and cycling. Demonstration events are also included at every edition. These reflect the most popular sports of the host nation not already on the Virtus programme.
Many athletes who have made their major international debut at the Global Games have gone on to win Paralympic titles in athletics, swimming and table tennis.
Regional Games
Virtus Regional Games are strategically designed to discover and nurture talent across diverse regions. These events focus on Africa, Asia-Oceania, Americas and Europe, offering a vital stepping stone for athletes on their journey to international sports competitions.
Scheduled every four years leading up to the Global Games, these regional competitions serve as crucial training grounds, identifying skilled athletes and preparing them for the global stage.
The inaugural Regional Summer Games took place in Paris-France in 2018 whilst the first Regional Winter Games took place in Zakopane-Poland in 2024.
These events not only showcase athletic prowess but also embody Virtus’ dedication to creating a more inclusive and accessible world of sports.
History
Three years after the organisation was launched in 1986, the first multi-sport event for athletes with an intellectual impairment were held in Harnosand, Sweden, in 1989, named ‘the 1st World Games for Athletes with an Intellectual Disability’. Thereafter, the event was called INAS Global Games.
Over the following years the focus shifted to getting onto the Paralympic programme, adding sports and countries. More information about this can be found on the history of Virtus. After more than a decade of continued development of sport for athletes with an intellectual impairment, the Global Games returned to their roots in Sweden in 2004. Fast forward to 2019, at the Global Games in Brisbane, Australia, INAS was renamed Virtus, signalling a new era of an elite-multi-sport event for World Intellectual Impairment Sport.
Results from all previous Global Games can be found at the results, rankings and records page.
