All Special Olympics events open to public free of charge

SHANGHAI, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- The competitions of all the 21 official events and four performance events at the 2007 Special Olympics will be offered free of charge to the public.

With the goal to bring all persons with intellectual disabilities into participation rather than competition, the 10-day Games will also feature activities like "Global Summit for Health and Welfare of People with Intellectual Disabilities", "Global Youth Summit" attended by both intellectually disabled youths and regular youths, and "Global Family Forum."

Even before the Games lifted its curtain, the athletes had first taken part in the Host Town Program on the arrival in China. During the program, many athletes and their families got the chance to stay with Chinese families in 12 cities, including Shanghai, Xi' an and Dalian.

A record 7,291 athletes from 164 countries and regions are taking part in the Oct. 2-11 event, with the eldest aged 69 and the youngest at 8.