KUCHING: The Kuching contingent was crowned the overall champion of the Special Olympics Sarawak 7th State Games 2025, which drew to a close in a colourful ceremony at the Hikmah Exchange here, on Sunday.

This edition of the tournament successfully brought together 358 athletes from five Special Olympics branches throughout Sarawak, including two new branches – Samarahan and Bintulu, reflecting the rapid growth of the sports community for people with disabilities (OKU) in the state.

Minister for Women, Early Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development, Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah, in her speech said that apart from the 358 athletes, this tournament also involved more than 400 people including delegation leaders, volunteers and technical staff, making a total of more than 800 participants who made the biennial sports games a success.

The tournament also unearthed many new talents among young athletes, with the youngest participants being 9 years old.

It also supports the Sarawak Government's goal through the inclusion agenda in the Post-COVID-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030 to ensure no group is left behind in the development process.

In addition, the championship also introduced a special health programme, the Healthy Athlete Programme (HAP) which provides health screening for athletes by 82 trained health workers on a voluntary basis.

This programme is important because many individuals with special needs face barriers to accessing quality health care.

Sarawak is also the only state in Malaysia to have developed an official database of Special Olympics athletes, a result of the Sibu Chapter initiative, with more than 800 athletes currently registered throughout the state.

At the same event, Dato Sri Fatimah also announced that the 8th Special Olympics Sarawak Games will be held in Bintulu in 2027 after the Bintulu Chapter accepted the challenge to host.

The Sarawak Government was also given credit for approving a grant of RM1.9 million to successfully organise the 7th edition of the Special Olympics this year, reflecting the government's strong commitment in empowering the disabled community through sports and inclusive community development. -UKASnews