The Virtus Oceania Asia Games 2022 will be held in Brisbane, Australia. This multi-sport event will be held from 5 to 12 November 2022.

Following on from the successful Global Games 2019 event held in Brisbane, the continued ripple effect of how sport changes lives for the better, is entrenched in the Australian landscape, and there is much excitement about seeing athletes come back again, to represent their countries and compete for medals and achieve personal best performances.
Ms Helen Croxford, President of Sport Inclusion Australia (SIA) was proud to announce they won the bid to host the Virtus Oceania Asia Games in 2022, bringing back an international, elite sporting competition to the golden shores of Brisbane, Australia. “It is a wonderfully exciting day for SIA and the athletes; I give my heartfelt thanks to the bid team, on leveraging the relationships, resources and knowledge from Global Games 2019, to keep raising the positive impacts of sport on people.” Ms Croxford said.

“This announcement carries another significance because it is the International Day of People with Disability. Sport is a human right. The Virtus Oceania Asia Games 2022 will hold a vision of Sport for Humanity. SIA is heading into its 35th year of bringing sport opportunities to the forefront of mainstream programs with a focus on ability and social inclusion principles. Ms Robyn Smith, Sport Inclusion Australia CEO, and Virtus Vice President said the Virtus Oceania Asia Games, #OAGames2022, will be a celebration of sport and cultural diversity. “The OA Games 2022 will bring about many elements of how sport changes lives for the better.” Ms Smith said. “It will challenge perceptions and change attitudes. It will be a celebration of sport and athletes. It will make visible the invisible.” “The Local Organising Committee team along with Virtus National Member colleagues in Asia and Oceania will be working closely with all Nations in the regions to ensure the success of this event for the athletes and to bring new members into the Virtus Oceania Asia family.”

“We hope through this event, we can recruit our first members from the Pacific nations, to participate and join Virtus Oceania.” said Ms Smith. Whilst the final sport program is being finalised we are pleased to confirm the following sports will form part of the program: Athletics, Basketball, Cycling, Rowing, Swimming, Table Tennis and Tennis. Additional Sports will be considered as a result of consultation with Virtus Nation Members and interested Pacific Nations in the coming months as we finalise the Official Sport Program. The year ahead will see more information about the event program, sport, and eligibility criteria, shared with all nations attending the OAGames2022. Mr. Patrick Chan, President of Virtus Asia based in Hong Kong spoke highly of the standards and caliber of event presented in Brisbane for the Global Games in 2019. “A regional event like this has the potential to showcase the biggest and most diverse group of athletes from countries in Asia and Oceania so that it may inspire more of our neighboring nations to become part of the Virtus global network.” Mr Chan said. “Virtus is the only governing body for elite athletes with an intellectual impairment, so this drives us to seek inclusion in sport and create opportunities for our region’s young people to choose a path in sport, with the support of a global community.” Oceania Asia Games 2022 invites governments, sporting organisation and corporate partners who believe in this vision to be part of this movement. A movement of Sport for Humanity.

Key statistics:
• 2-3% of the world population live with an intellectual impairment.
• 178-256 MILLION is the estimated number of people with an intellectual impairment in the world. *Source: WHO Report on Disability 2011
• It is the largest impairment group. For most it is a non-visible impairment.
• Sport provides connection to community and provides meaning and purpose. Active engagement in Sport has a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of the individual and supports our commitment to advancing many of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. For more information visit oagames2022.org and follow @ SportIncAus to stay updated on #OAGames2022

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About Sport Inclusion Australia
Sport Inclusion Australia, formerly AUSRAPID, is a national sporting organisation established in 1986 to assist the inclusion of people with an intellectual impairment into the mainstream community using sport as the medium. Sport Inclusion Australia has worked within the Australian sporting sector with outstanding success and is proud of the increasing numbers of sporting organisations and clubs taking responsibility for inclusion with the focus on ability and based on social inclusion principles.

Media Contact: Robyn Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Sport Inclusion Australia  e: robyn.smith@siasport.org

About Virtus World Intellectual Impairment Sport
Virtus World Intellectual Impairment Sport was formed in 1986 and has grown to a membership of more than 80 nations across the world. These cover Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, North America and Oceania.
Virtus is the brand name of the International Federation for athletes with intellectual impairments and member of the International Paralympic Committee.

Virtus is on a mission to drive the development of elite sport worldwide for athletes with an intellectual impairment, helping more than 300,000 of the world’s best athletes, from over 80 nations, compete in winter and summer sports, from Athletics to Alpine Skiing, Cycling, Equestrian, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis and Rowing amongst them.
We promote inclusion of people with intellectual impairments in society. We work with member nations and the International Federations for each sport, on educating our members on eligibility and classification so that they can develop their athlete pool, helping create high performance sport for athletes with an intellectual impairment.

Media Contact: Greg Dunk, Chief Marketing & Development Officer, Virtus greg.dunk@virtus.sport