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On July 20, 1968, Anne Burke, a young Chicago Park District physical education teacher (now an Illinois Supreme Court justice), brought to life a simple idea: a track-and-field event for intellectually challenged youth. With the support of city officials and Eunice Kennedy Shriver of the Kennedy Family Foundation, that first competition drew athletes from 26 states who came to Soldier Field for the “Chicago Special Olympics” — the start of a program that would grow over 50 years to serve 4.9 million athletes in 172 countries.
