Every few years, when the Paralympics come around, one question floods the internet: wait, isn't this the Special Olympics?

They're not the same thing. They've never been the same thing. But the confusion is genuine, and it's worth clearing up before the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games open in Milan on March 6.

Two Organizations. Two Missions.

They're built from different foundations: different founding stories, different athletes, different eligibility requirements, and different ideas about what competition is for.

Special Olympics was founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Its mission is to provide year-round sports training and competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, including conditions like Down syndrome, autism, and other cognitive or developmental disabilities. Special Olympics is participation-focused: athletes train, compete, and celebrate. The emphasis is on inclusion, belonging, and the joy of sport.

The Paralympics was founded in 1960, when 400 athletes with physical disabilities from 23 countries gathered in Rome, competing in the same city as the Olympic Games for the first time. Today, the Paralympic Games run alongside every Summer and Winter Olympics, governed by the International Paralympic Committee. The athletes competing in Milan are elite, world-class competitors who qualified through ranked international competition. Many hold world records. The emphasis is performance at the highest level.

Who Competes in Each?

Special Olympics:

• Athletes with intellectual disabilities (IQ under 75-80 combined with significant adaptive behavior challenges)
• Open to anyone age 8 and older
• No upper limit on the number of participants
• Training programs and local competitions run year-round

Paralympics:

• Athletes with physical impairments: limb difference, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, visual impairment, and others
• Some events include athletes with intellectual disabilities
• Athletes must meet strict classification standards and qualification benchmarks
• Around 4,000 athletes compete across Summer and Winter Games combined

The Classification System

The Paralympics uses a classification system that's worth understanding. Athletes compete based on functional ability, not disability type. A swimmer with one arm and a swimmer with cerebral palsy might compete in different classes depending on how their impairment affects their performance in the water. This ensures that medals reflect skill and training, not just severity of disability.

Special Olympics does not use this structure. Events are designed so that participants of all ability levels can compete in their own bracket and experience meaningful competition.

Where the Confusion Comes From

The names sound similar. Both involve athletes with disabilities. Both appear on a global stage.

Part of the confusion is historical. For most of the last century, both lived in the same hazy zone of public awareness: people knew they existed but couldn't have told you what separated them. The distinction between elite Paralympic competition and inclusive community sport wasn't something most people thought to make.

That's shifting. The 2026 Winter Paralympics will be broadcast on NBC and Peacock with more than 270 hours of coverage. Para athletes like Oksana Masters are recognized names in the adaptive sports community. The public profile of Paralympic competition has grown substantially in the past decade.

Does One Matter More Than the Other?

No. They serve different people in different ways, and that's the right answer.

Special Olympics opens the door for millions of athletes who would otherwise have no path into organized sport. For families raising children with intellectual disabilities, it's often the first community that simply says yes.

The Paralympics shows what's possible at the highest level, which shapes how the world understands disability and athletic achievement. You need both. Most families with kids who have disabilities will encounter both, at different times, for different reasons.

How to Get Involved

If your child has an intellectual disability and you're looking for a program, Special Olympics has a local program finder on its site. Programs exist in every U.S. state and more than 190 countries.

For Paralympic pathways, start with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Most Paralympic sports have youth development programs that feed into higher competition levels.

The 2026 Winter Paralympics run March 6 to 15 in Milan, on NBC and Peacock. Now that you know the difference, you'll know exactly what you're watching.