SPORT

Adapted start during the "New Stars" athletics tournament

21.05.2025

On May 21, 2025, the "New Stars" athletics tournament was held at the National Sports Academy “Vasil Levski,” organized to a remarkably high standard by the sports club KLASA. The 47th edition of this international tournament featured 100m and 200m adapted start, as well as shot put events, with the participation of 44 athletes with intellectual disabilities.

The inclusion of adapted starts during sports competitions with well-established traditions is an important form of support for people with disabilities, promoting their full integration into society and the example set by the organizers of the "New Stars" tournament has become a consistent and successful practice in recent years. The participants were awarded by Assoc. Prof. Grigor Gutev – Head of the Athletics Department at NSA “Vasil Levski,” Assoc. Prof. Plamen Nyagin – Director of the “New Stars” tournament, and Assoc. Prof. Velichka Alexandrova – Head of the Adapted Physical Activity and Sports sector. Athletes from several clubs took part in the international sporting event, including Parakids, Sunny Kids SC Kardzhali, United Sports for All SC, APAS Sandanski SC, Srednogorski Athlet Pirdop SC, APAS Pernik SC, “Zlaten otbor” Svishtov SC, BG and Sports for All SC, Adapted Sports SC, Sport, SEN, and Sambo for Development SC. The event was made possible with the invaluable support of students from the Adapted Physical Activity and Sports (APAS) program at NSA “Vasil Levski,” who assisted the athletes throughout their participation.

The competitors were divided into several heats, competing under the motto: #SPORT – Strengthening Potentials through Opportunities, Respect, and Team-spirit. This initiative, led by the Bulgarian sports development association and supported by the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme, encourages the sustainable inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in sports activities at local, national, and international levels. The athletes from Sunny Kids SC in Kardzhali took part in the event as part of their preparation for the upcoming international #SPORT training camp, which will be held in the summer of 2025 in Turkey.