Virtus Sport (formerly INAS or INAS Sport) (International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability; originally called INAS-FMH, later INAS-FID, INAS and now as Virtus Sport) is a federation which was established in 1986 by professionals in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

who were involved in sport and wanted to promote the participation of athletes with

mental handicap Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability (in the United Kingdom), and formerly mental retardation (in the United States), Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010).Archive is a generalized neurodevelopmental d ...

in elite sports (

intellectual impairment Developmental disability is a diverse group of chronic conditions, comprising mental or physical impairments that arise before adulthood. Developmental disabilities cause individuals living with them many difficulties in certain areas of life, espe ...

). The organisation uses the brand name Virtus to promote sport worldwide for

athletes An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including trac ...

with

intellectual disability Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability (in the United Kingdom), and formerly mental retardation (in the United States), Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010).Archive is a generalized neurodevelopmental ...

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

and Down syndrome. It provides competition opportunities for elite athletes with an intellectual disability in Paralympic and non-Paralympic sports and is different from

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 172 countries. Special Ol ...

, which provides non-elite opportunities worldwide.

Names

# INAS-FMH – 1986–1994 # INAS-FID – International Sports Federation for Persons with an Intellectual Disability (INAS-FID): 1994–? # INAS – International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability: ?–2019 #

Virtus () was a specific virtue in ancient Rome that carried connotations of valor, masculinity, excellence, courage, character, and worth, all perceived as masculine strengths. It was thus a frequently stated virtue of Roman emperors, and was perso ...

Sport – 2019–present

History

The founding meeting of the first Executive Committee took place in January 1986 and after which the organisation became a member of the ICC– the International Coordinating Committee– the organisation that later became the

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; ) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and functions as the international federation for nin ...

. INAS' original membership was 14 nations which has grown into around 80 nations today. In 1989, the 1st World Games for Athletes with an Intellectual Disability were held in Harnosand, Sweden and in 1992, immediately after the Barcelona Paralympic Games, the first Paralympic Games for 'Persons with mental handicap' were held in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. In 1994, INAS-FMH became INAS-FID – the 'International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability' and in 1996, for the first time, a small programme of events for athletes with an intellectual disability was included in the Paralympic Games in Atlanta. A larger programme including athletics, swimming and basketball was included in the Sydney Paralympic Games in 2000, but it soon emerged that a small number of athletes had cheated the system of determining eligibility, resulting in the suspension of events – a suspension that was to remain in place until 2012. Despite exclusion from the Paralympic Games, the INAS sport programme continued to grow considerably to incorporate more than 10 sports whilst its membership grew to cover all 5 continents.

Eligibility and classification

Athletes with an

are characterised by an IQ of 75 or below, significant limitations in Adaptive Behaviour and the disability must be present before the age of 18. This is based on th
American Association for Intellectual and Developmental Disability
s definition of intellectual disability.

Recognized sports

Sports:

Core sports

# Athletics # Basketball # Cricket # Cycling # Equestrian # Football/futsal # Judo # Rowing # Skiing # Swimming # Table tennis # Tennis

Partnerships with international federations

# Golf # Karate # Para-hockey # Sailing # Taekwondo

Current activities

Today's sport programme includes some 15 annual events, and more than 4000 athletes are registered to compete at an international level, while thousands of people with an intellectual disability receive opportunities for sport through the work of member organisations. Following a partnership between INAS and the

to overhaul the process of determining athlete eligibility, events for athletes with an intellectual disability were re-instated to the Paralympic programme by the IPC General Assembly in November 2009, in preparation for the

London 2012 Paralympic Games The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

. In 2019, INAS was rebranded as Virtus. Equipe portugal 1514147 games Virtus.jpg, Team Portugal Podium 1514548 CREPS Reims.jpg, Podium, 2024

Events

INAS World Championships

* Main article : INAS World Championships Note : INAS does not organise events in Taekwondo but work in partnership with World Taekwondo World Para Taekwondo Championships. * Source : * http://www.inas.org/events/results * http://www.inas.org/events

INAS Global Games

* Main article :

INAS Global Games The INAS Global Games is a quadrennial global, international multi-sport event organised by the International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability (INAS). First organised in 2004, it is intended for elite competition in disab ...

In 2004 INAS launched a new multi-sport competition

(INAS World Games / Intellectual Disability Global Games). The first event took place in Bollnäs, Sweden and featured more than 1000 athletes. The second Global Games took place in

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

in 2009. With the re-inclusion of athletes with an intellectual disability into Paralympic competition, it was decided to move the Global Games to the year preceding the Paralympics. The next Global Games therefore took place in 2011. After a bidding procedure,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

was chosen as the host nation. The 2015 Global Games took place in Guayaquil, Ecuador, in September. The 2019 INAS Global Games took place in Brisbane, Queensland Australia. The 2023 Virtus Global Games took place in Vichy, France. Results for 2023 Virtus Global Games: https://c3k8ff.n3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Results-GG2023.pdf

Regional Games

Source:

European Championships

Source: Members (28 nations in 2019): Sports: # Athletics: # Swimming: # Futsal/Football: # Basketball: # Handball: # Table Tennis: # Other Sports (Cycling,Rowing,Judo,Skiing,Tennis,Equestrian):

INAS European Games

Results of the 2018 European Championship: The 1st European Winter Games (skiing, rowing, futsal, basketball 3x3) took place in

Zakopane Zakopane (Gorals#Language, Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has ...

, Poland from 2 March - 8 March 2024.

INAS Asia-Pacific Games

The 1st Virtus Oceania Asia Games 2022 took place in Australia from 5-11 November 2022. Sports: # Athletics - Paralympic Pathway # Badminton - Demonstration Sport # Basketball # Cycling - Track & Road Cycling # Judo # Rowing - On-Water & Indoor Rowing # Sailing - Para Sailing International Championship # Swimming - Paralympic Pathway # Table Tennis - Paralympic Pathway # Taekwondo # Triathlon - Demonstration Sport 20 countries took part in the event: * Australia * Brazil * Colombia * Ecuador * Fiji * France (including Wallis & Futuna, New Caledonia) * Hong Kong * India * Indonesia * Islamic Republic of Iran * Japan * Macau * Malaysia * Maldives * New Zealand * Republic of Palau * Papua New Guinea * Philippines * Republic of Korea * Singapore * Chinese Taipei * Thailand * Great Britain * United States of America Events: * Athletics * Basketball * Cycling * Equestrian * Futsal * Handball * Judo * Karate * Rowing * Swimming * Table Tennis * Taekwondo * Tennis Medals: In the event, Solomon Islands received one silver while the Republic of Palau received no medals.

INAS Pan American Games

The 2026 Virtus Americas Regional Games are scheduled to take place in Peru.

References

External links

American Association for Intellectual and Developmental Disability

Virtus World Intellectual Impairment Sport
{{International Sports Federations Parasports organizations Sports organizations established in 1986 International organisations based in the United Kingdom Organisations based in Sheffield Intellectual disability organizations